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CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS 



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No. 12 

CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS 

An Experimental Study of Observation and Report in 
School Children 

By 



W. H. WINCH, M. A. (cantab) 

98 

External Member of the Board of Psychological Studies of the University of 

London; Chairman of the Committee of the Teachers'' Guild of Great 

Britaiji and Ireland on Psychological Research in Schools; Lecturer 

for the London County Council on Pedagogical Methods in 

Schools; Inspector of Schools for the London County Council, 

now on leave of absence for purposes of Research 

in Experimental Pedagogy. 




BALTIMORE 

WARWICK & YORK, Inc. 

1914 



LT3 \o<p7 
Aa/s 



Copyright, 1914, by 
Warwick & York, Inc. 



OCT 29 iai4 



©CI.A893423 



s 



EDITOR'S PREFACE. 

Since the year 1900, when Binet published his well 
known volume upon suggestibility, and more espe- 
cially since the labors of Professor Stern, of Bres- 
lau, during the next few years, there has arisen 
among psychologists a. very keen interest in the psy- 
chology of testimony, or psychology of report, to 
use a more general term. The report, or Aussage, 
as the Germans term it, is an account, either oral or 
written, and either spontaneous or in response to 
questions, in which a person seeks to describe a 
scene or narrate an event that he has witnessed. 
The report, therefore, clearly implies and hinges 
upon a previous observation. Experiments with re- 
porting are one way of testing the capacity of school 
children to observe, and previous experiments with 
school children by these methods have invariably 
elicited results and conclusions of pedagogical, as 
well as psychological value. 

In the present monograph Mr. Winch has, hap- 
pily, used not only the general methods of Professor 
Stern, but also the identical picture which figured 
so prominently in the original work of Stern and 
other German investigators. Moreover, the picture 
has been reproduced and inserted in the volume, so 
that all readers may compare the work of the English 
children with the actual test-object, and may use the 



VI EDITOR S PREFACE 

picture and the method for repeating this very in- 
teresting and profitable experiment upon themselves, 
their pupils, and others. In the text of the book will 
be found not only the statistical tables necessary for 
this comparison, but also actual reports of children 
of both sexes and of different ages and school grades. 
In short, the work is designed to encourage and fa- 
cilitate the actual trial of the experiment by the 
reader, and should on this account be especially wel- 
comed by teachers and others interested in experi- 
mental pedagogy. 

Finally, Mr. Winch's results have an immediate 
bearing upon the vexed problem of the training of 
observation in children. They serve particularly 
to clear the ground for the consideration of this 
problem by showing what children do, and what 
they do not observe at different stages of their men- 
tal development. It is evident enough that we need 
to know these facts before we can proceed intelli- 
gently to formulate a system of exercises for train- 
ing observation. 

G. M. W. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 

This volume is a research in experimental peda- 
gogy. 

In England and in other countries, those whose 
efforts are creating the new science of experimental 
pedagogy are inspired by a profound belief. They 
preach a revolution in education. But what kind of 
revolution, for we have had many before? Most 
thoughtful teachers indeed, and not a few educa- 
tionists, have become a little tired of the fashion- 
like changes which, from time to time, sweep across 
the educational field; and, after much dislocation 
and annoyance, vanish within the limbo of the dis- 
credited and the forgotten. The believer in experi- 
mental pedagogy preaches another kind of revolu- 
tion — a revolution in the method of determining edu- 
cational needs and practices. He holds that, until 
an educational proposal has been submitted to defin- 
ite tests under rigorously scientific conditions in 
the schools themselves, there can be no adequate 
ground for recommending it for general adoption. 
He holds also that the teachers should have a share 
in this work of experimental verification. 

There is an increasing number of teachers who are 
willing — nay, anxious — to carry out scientific psy- 
chological and pedagogical experiments in schools, 



Vlll AUTHORS PREFACE 

if proper guidance be given them. But they desire 
to see how this experimental work bears on their 
work ; they want it to be practical ; and surely these 
requests are not unreasonable. 

One hopes that, in education as in other arts, there 
will never be a lack of persons to come forward with 
new ideas. The believer in experimental pedagogy 
will accord, both to them and to their ideas, a most 
hearty welcome. "But," he will say, "let us see 
how your proposals work through the teachers in 
the schools before we accept them." Science must 
become the handmaid of art in education as in other 
professions. To talk of a science of education before 
this experimental verification has been done is to use 
inflated language which has little reference to reality. 
But for educational ideas securely based on actual 
knowledge, gathered under school conditions with 
the help of teachers, there has never been, I believe, 
throughout the whole history of education, so favor- 
able an opportunity of realization as at present. 

W. H. Winch. 

London, February, 1913. 



CONTENTS 

Frontispiece. 

Editor's Preface v 

Author's Preface vii 

Chapter I. How, if at all, can children be taught to observe? 1 

Chapter II. General plan of the experiments 8 

Chapter III. First Series of Experiments. School A 10 

I. The work of the three-year-old children 13 

II. The work of the four-year-old children 51 

III. The work of the five-year-old children . . 61 

IV. The work of the six-year-old children 69 

V. The work of the seven-year-old children 77 

Chapter IV. Second Series of Experiments. School B 90 

I. The work of the four-year-old children 91 

II. The work of the five-year-old children 99 

III. The work of the six-year-old children 106 

IV. The work of the seven-year-old children 114 

Chapter V. Third and Fourth Series of Experiments. School 

C. Boys and Girls 128 

I. Method of Procedure in the Senior Schools 128 

II. How the work in Boys' and Girls' Schools may 

be compared 132 

III. The work of the Standard II boys and girls.. 133 

IV. The work of the Standard III boys and girls.. 142 
V. The work of the Standard IV boys and girls.. 149 

VI. The work of the Standard V boys and girls.. 156 
VII. The work of the Standard VI boys and girls.. 164 

VIII. The work of the Standard VII boys and girls.. 172 
IX. The work of boys and girls compared age by age. 184 
Chapter VI. The Evolution of Children's Perceptual Judg- 
ments 1S8 

I. Children's Judgments due to Suggestion 188 

II. Children's Perceptions of Clothes 194 

III. Children's Perceptions of Position 196 

ix 



X CONTENTS 

IV. Children's Perceptions of Activities 200 

V. Children's Perceptions of Things 202 

VI. Children's Perceptions of Number 205 

VII. Children's Perceptions of Color 208 

VIII. Validity of this method of tracing the child's per- 
ceptual evolution 212 

IX. Pedagogical value of the method 213 

Chapter VII. Was it the same picture which was shown the 

second time? 215 

Chapter VIII. How far is the relative inferiority of the older 

children due to differences in the method of reporting?. . . 223 
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Series of Experiments. 

I. The work of School D 226 

II. The work of School E 228 

III. The work of School F 230 

IV. The oral work of the girls of School C 234 

Chapter IX. Summary and Conclusions 238 

Chapter X. Statistical Appendix 241 

Index 243 



CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS: 

An Experimental Study of Observation and Report 
in School Children. 

CHAPTEE I. 

HOW, IF AT ALL, CAN CHILDREN BE TAUGHT TO 
OBSERVE? 

It is quite common, at the present day, in educa- 
tional codes and courses of study, to find instructions 
to teachers to encourage observation among their pu- 
pils ; and it is a general complaint that children leave 
their schools without much knowledge of the world 
which lies immediately about them (which, of course, 
tthey might have gained by observation), and, above 
all, without that inquiring glance which enables them 
rapidly to make themselves at home in a new envir- 
onment. Both of these defects, it is asserted, are 
remediable by the process known as the cultivation 
of the power of observation. Briefly, that is the posi- 
tion today of the educational world in England, 
America and Germany ; though with varieties of em- 
phasis, and some divergence of views. 

Side by side with this, there is the general opinion 
of the psychological world that observation, inter- 
preted in a psychological way, is very little sus- 
ceptible of improvement, if at all. 

It is pointed out that the specialist, whilst acutely 

1 



1 CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 

alive to perceptual changes within the sphere of his 
own studies, is often so unobservant of other things 
that, by ordinary mortals, he is frequently regarded 
as stupid.* And it is argued that improved discrimi- 
nation in any one sensory department, say that of 
vision, or even in aspects of the same sense, form, 
color, etc., is not accompanied by improvement in 
others, even within the same sensory field; and, a 
fortiori, would certainly not involve improved dis- 
crimination in another sensory field, for example, 
in that of sound. Consequently, the all-round train- 
ing of the 'faculty of observation' — a phrase be- 
loved by educationists — must be an absurd ideal, be- 
cause it is destined never to be realized; it simply 
can't be done. The psychologist, too, lays stress on 
the inhibitory aspects of mental life — an aspect too 
often lost sight of by educationists. So much obser- 
vation of plant life, shall we say, means less and not 
more observation, shall we say, of animal life or 
machinery. Therefore it is argued that we should 
cease to try to cultivate an all-round power of obser- 
vation; let us rather confine ourselves to encourag- 
ing observation within those fields of knowledge and 
within those sensory departments in which the obser- 
vations are likely to be industrially or aesthetically 
important to the pupil. 

Where such diametric conflict of opinion exists, it 
is fairly certain that the parties to the dispute do 
not mean altogether the same thing by the terms 
they use. The educationist maintains that he is not 
thinking simply of sensory discrimination, and he is 



*Winch, Problems in Education. London, 1900; page 32 et seq. 



HOW CAN CHILDREN BE TAUGHT TO OBSERVE 6 

apt to accuse the workers of the laboratory of under- 
standing him in too limited a sense, and of arrang- 
ing their experiments in so artificial a way that the 
results obtained are not applicable either to the work 
of the school or to the work-a-day world outside it. 

Fortunately for education and, I think, for psy- 
chology also, a rapprochement seems likely to take 
place. In Germany, a good deal of work bearing 
on these issues has been done under the title of 
'Aussagc,' which I have translated into English as 
the Declaration of Perceptual Judgments; and in 
America much the same kind of experiment has been 
worked at and described as 'Fidelity of Eeport.' In 
England, we shall probably, in the educational 
world, continue for some time to use the term ' Obser- 
vation,' whilst the more definite term 'Perception' 
will be confined to the psychologist. But the differ- 
ences involved imply more than is indicated by the 
use of different terms. 

Observation, as the educationist understands it, 
implies sensory discrimination; it implies also per- 
ception, that is, the identification or judgment of 
what is sensorily apprehended; it also implies the 
expression of these judgments in linguistic or 
graphic forms. And the educationist argues that, 
unless the psychological experiments which are con- 
ducted to settle his difficulties take cognizance of all 
the aspects of the case important to him, he cannot 
be expected to change his practices in consequence 
of their results. This contention may be granted 
with the proviso that, so far as is known at present, 
he must admit the declaration of the psychologist 
against his all-round faculty of observation, and 



4 CHILDEEN S PERCEPTIONS 

must show transfer from one field of observation to 
another before basing his practices upon a belief in 
it. Observation should lie within those sensory fields 
and be directed to that subject-matter, which, on in- 
dustrial or aesthetic grounds, it is desirable to culti- 
vate and learn. 

The argument from the well-known narrowing in- 
fluence of scientific specialism is countered by the 
growing knowledge of the character of some of our 
best attested correlations. These specialists, com- 
pared with children, are veritable giants in observa- 
tion. In the physical world, we know quite well that 
giants are stupid people. But if we argue in conse- 
quence that big children are more likely to be stupid 
than little ones — a not uncommon opinion even 
among teachers — we shall be flying directly in the 
face of the facts. The Chicago Department of Peda- 
gogical Investigation showed, years ago, that the re- 
verse is the truth. Age for age, big children are 
mentally in advance of smaller ones. The same 
conclusion resulted from the facts collected by me in 
London some eight years ago, and I believe corre- 
sponding evidence has been collected in Germany. 
So that, though bodily growth, pushed to its extreme 
limit, as in giants, is certainly correlated negatively 
with mental growth, that relationship is not true in 
general, and certainly not among children, for 
among them bodily growth and mental growth in 
large measure vary together. 

Hence we may not argue from the limiting nature 
of the specialist's absorption — the one seeing noth- 
ing but plants, another nothing but machines, an- 
other nothing but microbes, to which ends their ob- 



HOW CAN CHILDREN BE TAUGHT TO OBSERVE O 

servation has been solely directed, and is indeed effi- 
cient for no other purpose — that the limited training 
of observation in school children would have a simi- 
larly contracting effect. Moderate amounts of ob- 
servational work might expand the observational 
powers in many directions rather than contract them. 
A child might see more in machinery because he had 
been trained to see something in plants. 

To all this the apostle of the doctrines of experi- 
mental pedagogy can only say: "Let us try it and 
see." For he is convinced only that argument from 
extreme cases in adult life to what happens with chil- 
dren is worse than useless; it is misleading. 

Moreover, it is argued that the extreme anti-fac- 
ulty doctrine implies too early a commencement of 
a child's life work. And it is asserted that there is 
a necessary field for observation in the early years 
of childhood, which is not, and cannot be specialized ; 
the child must learn to observe the realities and the 
pictorial representations of the world around him. 
Here is a common basis upon which facultists and 
anti-facultists can agree. If this early observation 
helps afterwards to the specialized observation re- 
quired in the world of work, so much the better. 
But if it does not, it is necessary for its own sake. 
And no one doubts that there are some common ele- 
ments of sensory discrimination and some common 
elements of expression, whose improvement will be 
common to both kinds of subject-matter. That they 
do not go so far as used to be thought will no doubt 
influence the school-curriculum in its later years ; its 
subject-matter will become more specialized and 
'futures' will be dealt in more largely than at pres- 



6 children's perceptions 

ent. But though * training of the faculty' is not 
everything, far from it, we ought, notwithstanding, 
to find out the most disciplinary method for the 
teaching and learning of that which, on other 
grounds, we have decided should be acquired. 

Let us suppose we have decided that every child 
shall be taught to observe the world around him. 
How shall it be done? May we ever use pictures? 
German schools have, for years, used them in con- 
nection with their Anschauung-Unterricht* The 
teacher asks a number of stereotyped questions 
about a picture and the children answer them, also 
in stereotyped form, with much attention to correct 
linguistic expression. This exercise has its uses as 
an introduction to German Composition (Germany 
is a country of dialects, be it remembered), but I 
saw no real effort of actual perception, thought and 
memory, such as is required by Aussage exercises — 
also German — framed by educational psychologists. 

We require so to teach and train that our pupils 
know more about the lesson next week than they do 
immediately after it, and are made more and not 
less expert in attacking all forms of analogous ma- 
terial. 

Impossible? A counsel of perfection? Yes, it 
certainly is, so long as education, as with us in Eng- 
land, means as much talking by the teacher as it does 
at present. 

But it is not impossible; nay, it is the ordinary 
course of things when lessons are so chosen that, 
with effort, the children can do them, and when their 



*W. H. Winch, German Schools, page 203 et seq. 



HOW CAN CHILDEEN BE TAUGHT TO OBSERVE 7 

mental activities are fully enlisted in the work. I 
am not arguing that there is no place for teaching. 
On the contrary. I have tried to estimate its value 
statistically as compared with practice alone.* But 
there are many valuable mental exercises where 
teaching can profitably become a minimum, and 
where self-expression and self-correction can be 
wholly employed. Among such exercises are these 
Aussage or 'observation' lessons. But it is time to 
discontinue didactics. A necessary preliminary to 
a real advance in any educational question is a dis- 
passionate survey of what actually exists psycho- 
logically in its bearings on the dispute. Germany 
and America have shown the lead in Aussage work 
with children. I offer this English contribution with 
full recognition of the claims of my forerunners. 

In one important respect — there are many minor 
modifications — this work claims to constitute an ad- 
vance. I have tried to make a statistical estimate of 
the complex of functions called 'observation.' Such 
an estimate is imperative if we are ever to come to 
any definite conclusions about many of the questions 
raised in this research. What children do observe 
and how much they observe ought to be known pre- 
liminaries to all educational theory about observa- 
tion, and this research is offered in the hope that the 
following experiments may help to 'advance our 
knowledge in both these respects. 



♦How a Teacher can test the Value of his own Methods. Child- 
Study, July, 1912. 



CHAPTER II. 
GENERAL PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENTS. 

The work about to be described was modelled on 
the 'Aussage' experiments of Professor Stern with 
his own children described in Erinnerung, Aussage 
und Luge in der ersten Kindheit* 

Very broadly, the method of the experiment was 
the same in all cases, though there were minor modi- 
fications in detail. First, the child or children who 
were taking part in the experiment were told that a 
picture was about to be shown to them, and that they 
were going to be asked to tell all about it after- 
wards. Then the picture,f Das Fruhstuck Bild, was 
shown for exactly one minute, after which the child 
was invited to say what he had seen in the picture. 
The statement then made was free and unprompted 
in any way, and is alluded to henceforward as ' The 
First Spontaneous Report.' After this report had 
been given, the experimenter asked a number of 
questions, and the child answered them. These an- 
swers will be alluded to as 'The First Set of An- 
swers.' Then, exactly one week later, on the same 



*I wish to tender my thanks to Professor Marie Diirr-Borst and to 
Professor William Stern for permission to utilize the picture "Da$ 
Fruhstuck Bild." 

fThis picture will be found in the front pages of the book in a de- 
tached form, so that the reader may easily refer to it in conjunction 
with any and every page of the monograph. 

8 



GENERAL PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENT 9 

day of the school week, at the same time of day, and 
after the same school lesson as before, without any 
further exhibition of it, the child was asked once 
more to tell about the picture . The statement then 
made will be referred to as 'The Second Spontane- 
ous Eeport.' The questions previously asked were 
repeated ; the answers given on this occasion will be 
referred to as 'The Second Set of Answers.' Fi- 
nally, the picture was shown again immediately after 
the Second Set of Answers had been given, and the 
children were told to put anything right which they 
had said wrong. The statements then made will be 
referred to as ' The Self-Correction. ' For each child, 
therefore, there are five separate sets of data — a 
First Spontaneous Eeport, a First Set of Answers, 
a Second Spontaneous Eeport, a Second Set of An- 
swers, and a Self-Correction. 

The first work was done in London in two munici- 
pal infants' schools, in one boys' school, and in one 
girls' school. In the case of the infants — children 
from 3 to 7 years of age — the work was done indi- 
vidually; that is to say, each child was taken sepa- 
rately by the experimenter in a room apart. In the 
boys' and girls' schools the children were taken in 
groups or classes. I propose first to describe the 
work done in the poorer of the two infants' schools. 
By 'poorer,' I mean situated in a neighborhood of 
somewhat inferior social class. 



CHAPTEK HI. 
FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS. SCHOOL A. 

This school is a municipal school of medium size, 
according to English ideas of size — a German or an 
American would call it a small school. It contains 
some 400 children whose ages range from 3 to 7 
years. It is situated in a poor neighborhood, though 
not in one of the poorest. If the elementary schools 
of London were graded into four groups in accord- 
ance with the social class of the children attending 
the schools, this school would be found in the third 
group, that is, towards the bottom end of the scale. 
The school staff is a good one, and the Head Mistress 
has had much practice in experimental work. About 
one-third of the observations were made by the Mis- 
tress and myself jointly; the remainder were made 
by the Mistress alone. 

Even with the unstinted aid of the Mistress, it 
would have been almost an impossibility to take 
every child in the school individually through this 
Aussage experiment ; but it was hoped that, by very 
careful choice of representative pupils of every age 
from 3 to 7 years, the inaccuracy due to selection 
might be, if not obviated, at least reduced within 
very narrow limits. 

First we found out how many children there were 
of each age in the whole school ; then we decided to 

10 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 11 

take ten of each age, that is, ten 3-year-old boys and 
girls, ten 4-year-old boys and girls, and so on. All 
the children of one age would not be found in the 
same class or grade of mental proficiency; thus, 
every child of 6 years would not be found in Grade 
III (an infant-school grading) ; some would be 
higher and some would be lower in the school. So 
the ten 6-year-old children were selected partly from 
one class and partly from another, according to the 
proportion of 6-year-old children contained in each 
class in relation to the total number of 6-year-old 
children in the school. A similar procedure was 
adopted for the selection of typical children of other 
ages. A further condition was insisted on : the chil- 
dren chosen from each class were to consist of clever, 
medium and dull children in equal proportions, and 
the children were chosen so that, for each age-group, 
the average age would be about half-way between 
the limits of age for the group. Thus the 7-year-old 
children would be so selected that their average age 
would amount to 7 years 6 months; the 6-year-old 
children would average 6 years 6 months ; and so on. 
The work was necessarily spread over many months, 
and there is always a possibility that the teachers 
of the classes, unless they are accustomed to experi- 
mental work, may, if aware of the nature of what is 
being done, set themselves, as it were, to 'teach up' 
to it. Consequently, great care was taken that the 
character of the exercises should not be made known 
to the class teachers until every child had done all 
that was required. Subsequently, the method of 
the experiment, with certain modifications, was 
adopted in this school as a method of teaching ; but, 



12 children's perceptions 

at the time of the experiment and previous to it, no 
such methods were in operation. 

As will be remembered, the plan of the experiment 
required that the first spontaneous report should be 
given just after the child had looked at the picture 
for one minute. The first interrogatory followed 
immediately. Then a week later, a second report 
was given and a second interrogatory was made. 
At the conclusion of the second interrogatory, the 
self-correction was asked for in the way already ex- 
plained — the self-correction involving a look at the 
picture for the second time. The four previous ex- 
ercises, namely, the First Eeport, the First Set of 
Answers, the Second Eeport, and the Second Set of 
Answers, all depended wholly upon observations 
made by the child during one minute at the beginning 
of the experiment. 

At this juncture I ask those who read this ac- 
count, if they are not already experts in experi- 
mental work with children, to endeavor to take this 
experiment themselves, with one or two children 
at least. It will add to the ease with which the fol- 
lowing account is comprehended if the exercises are 
taken with the self-same picture, namely, "Das 
Fruhstuck Bild" (The Breakfast Picture). 

I think also it will add to the facility with which 
the summing up of my results and the subsequent dis- 
cussion are apprehended, and further will lead to a 
more critical comprehension of them, if I give some 
actual examples of what was done by the children 
individually, and show in detail how the exercises 
were marked. 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 13 

L The Work of the Three- Year-Old Children of 
School A.* 

Ena M , aged 3 years and 10 months, gave her 

First Spontaneous Report at 10.30 a. m., on May 6th, 
1910. It ran as follows : — 

Ena M 's First Spontaneous Report. 

" A little hoy — a mother — a chair — a table — drip- 
ping — basin — a floiver — a dolly." 

Method of Marking the Spontaneous Reports. 

I suggest the feasibility of making a numerical 
estimate of these reports, and I propose to do so on 
a basis of correct units of observation. Observation, 
in the sense in which it has always been understood 
by English pedagogy, implies perception and the 
expression of it: there is an additional factor here, 
for memory for a short period, a very short period, 
is also implied. 

The child, Ena M , is obviously in what has 

been called the enumerative stage; she names per- 
sons and things without any account of actions, of 
qualities, or of the spatial relations between the per- 
sons or things in the picture. Some of her identifi- 
cations are not correct, but we have to ask ourselves 
if they are allowable as fair interpretations for an 
English child 1 The picture is a German one, and 
some of the objects, as, for example, the 'black 



*It must be understood at the outset that reliable results with very 
young children cannot be obtained by persons who are unaccustomed to 
work with them. A combination of sympathy and gentle insistence are 
required in the experimenter. The questions are large in number for 
little ones, and irrelevancies and periods of inattention are to be ex- 
pected. The experimenter with patience will lead the children back 
again to the matter in hand. 



14 children's perceptions 

bread' and the school boy's 'satchel,' are not in 
forms with which English children are acquainted. 
Consequently, a certain latitude of identification 
was allowed; 'basin,' for example, was accepted as a 
correct description of the bread in the picture. But 
it was not thought that either 'dripping' or 'a dolly' 
were fair interpretations of any actual perception, 
so that no marks were allowed for these. The word 
"boy" is qualified as "little boy;" but teachers of 
young children are of opinion that it is not a real 
qualification; they hold that 'boy' and 'little boy' 
are identical in meaning for young children ; so that 
no additional mark was given for the apparent quali- 
fication. 

Thus Ena M receives 6 marks for her first 

spontaneous report; one for 'little boy,' one for 
'mother,' one for 'chair,' one for 'table,' one for 
'basin' and one for 'flower.' 

I append, immediately following, Ena M 's 

Second Spontaneous Report given at 10.30 a. m. on 
May 13th. I place the two reports in proximity for 
convenience of comparison, but, in actual operation, 
the First Interrogatory immediately followed the 
First Report, and these were separated by an inter- 
val of exactly one week from the Second Report. 

Ena M 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

" A chair — a table — a box — a flower — a boy — the 
mother — basin — a knife." 

It may be profitably noted that the two inaccurate 
enumerations, namely, 'dripping' and 'a dolly', 
which were given in the First Report, have dropped 
out, and two new items have come in. These are 



FIEST SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 15 

'box' and 'knife,' both of which were referred to in 
the first interrogatory a week previous. The addi- 
tional units of correct observation, therefore, so far 
as this child's work is concerned, may be due to the 
suggestive influence of certain questions in the first 
interrogatory. Whatever be the cause, the second 
report, as indeed is almost invariably the case with 
children, contains more units of correct observation 
than the first. The mark for the Second Spontane- 
ous Eeport is easily seen to be eight as compared 
with six for the First Spontaneous Report. 

I will now show Ena M 's answers to the 

First Interrogatory and Second Interrogatory, side 
by side. They are given thus for purposes of con- 
venience, but there was exactly a week's interval 
between them; and the Second Set of Answers to 
Questions actually followed in time the - Second 
Spontaneous Report. The reader is requested 
to compare the answers, question by question, 
with the actual picture. 

Ena M 's Fibst and Second Sets of Answers Given on May 

6th and May 13th, Respectively, at 10.35 A. M. 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

1. Which side of the table On the other side Over there (showed 

was the lady standing? (showed wrong- wrongly). 

ly). 

2. What was she doing? Holding some pud- Making a pudding. 

ding. 

3. How was the lady hold- Like that (showed Like that (showed 

ing what she had in wrongly). wrongly). 

her hand? 

4. Had the lady anything Yes — dripping. Yes — dripping. 

else in her hand beside 
the thing you have 
told me about? 

5. What clothes was the A frock. A dress and a pin- 



1(5 


CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 






First Set of 


Second Set of 




Questions. 


Answers. 


Answers. 




lady wearing? 




afore. 


6. 


What sort of a hat had 
she? 


A blue hat. 


(No answer.) 


7. 


What was she wearing 
on her feet? 


(No answer.) 


(No answer.) 


8. 


Could you see her feet? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


9. 


Had she a pinafore or 
apron on? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


10. 


Had she a frock on? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


11. 


What color was her 
blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 


Green. 


Blue. 


12. 


What color was her 
skirt? 


Blue. 


Green. 


13. 


What color was her 
apron or pinafore? 


Green. 


Green. 


14. 


What color were her 
boots or shoes? 


Yellow. 


Blue. 


15. 


What color was her 
hair? 


Green. 


Green. 


16. 


What was the boy do- 


Playing and had 


Playing and had 




ing? 


some cake. 


some cake. 


17. 


How was he holding 
what he had in his 
hand? 


( Showed wrongly. ) 


(Showed wrongly.) 


18. 


Where were the boy's 
feet? 


On the floor. 


On the floor. 


19. 


What clothes was the boy 


Trousers on. 


Had a coat and 




wearing? 




trousers on. 


20. 


What color was the boy's 
coat or jacket? 


Green. 


Green. 


21. 


What color were the 
boy's trousers or 
knickers? 


Blue. 


Green. 


22. 


What color were the 
boy's boots or shoes? 


Green. 


Green. 


23. 


What color were the 
boy's stockings? 


Green. 


Green. 


24. 


What color was his hair? 


Green. 


Green. 


25. 


What sort of boots had 
the boy? 


A pair of boots. 


A pair of boots. 


26. 


What sort of shoes had 
he? 


Blue. 


Blue. 


27. 


Did you see anything un- 
der the boy's chair? 


(No answer.) 


(No answer.) 


28. 


Did you see a jug or 
vase? 


Yes. 


Yes. 



FIEST SEEIES OF EXPEKIMENTS 



17 



Questions. 

29. What color was the jug 

or vase? 

30. Did you see anything on 

the floor near the jug 
or vase? 

31. What color was the 
. table? 

32. What else was on the 

table besides the thing 
the lady was holding? 

33. Did you see a knife? 

34. Whereabouts on the ta- 

ble was it? 

35. What color was the 

knife? 

36. Did you see a flower- 

pot? 

37. Where was it? 

38. What color were the 

flowers ? 

39. How many flowers were 

there? 

40. What color were the 

leaves ? 

41. How many leaves were 

there? 

42. What color was the 

flower-pot? 

43. What color was the 

box? 

44. What could you see 

through the open win- 
dow? 

45. What could you see 

through the open door ? 

46. Did you see a window? 

47. What color were the 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- 

pet? 

49. Did you see a carpet? 

50. What room was it? 



First Set of 

Answers. 


Second Set of 

Answers. 


Green. 


Green. 


(No answer.) 


(No answer.) 


Green. 


Green. 


Butter. 


Dripping. 


Yes. 

There (showed 

wrongly). 
Green. 


Yes. 

There ( showed 

wrongly). 
Green. 


Yes. 


Yes. 


On the floor. 
Blue. 


On a bow. 
Blue. 


Three. 


Four. 


Blue. 


Blue. 


One, two, three. 


Three. 


Green. 


Green. 


Green. 


Green. 


A lady. 


A lady. 


(No answer.) 


(No answer.) 


Yes. 

Green. 


Yes. 

Green. 


Green. 


Green. 


Yes. 

(No answer.) 


Yes. 

(No answer.) 



It will probably be useful for illustrative purposes 
if I give one more complete record of the worK of a 
three-year-old child before passing on to a general 



18 children's perceptions 

discussion of the questions and answers of these 
three-year-old children. The work given below is 
that of a boy, but the reader is cautioned against 
drawing any general conclusions about sex differ- 
ences on the basis of this and the preceding 'dossier.' 

On May 6th, 1910, at 11.30 a. m., Robert H , 

aged 3 years 8 months, saw the picture for one min- 
ute and made his First Spontaneous Eeport. It ran 
thus: 

Robert H 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"A little boy — a lady — flowers — a cupboard — a 
vase — a pudding — a table — a barrow on the floor." 

Robert is still almost confined to the enumerative 
stage. He mentions nine persons and things, and 
for this receives nine marks for correct observation, 
for 'barrow' is regarded as a fair identification of 
the German satchel for a three-year-old English boy. 
But Robert is passing beyond the enumerative stage ; 
he has placed the * barrow' in relation to the floor by 
using the preposition ' on. ' This positional reference 
should also carry a mark. It is probable that, as 
representing a higher mental stage than mere enum- 
eration, it should carry more than one mark; but 
partly to save complexity of marking and partly be- 
cause I did not know how many marks to give, I de- 
cided, at least provisionally, to give one mark for all 
positional references. Robert therefore receives 10 
marks for his first Report. 

Then followed his first interrogation, the answers 
to which I will give later. 

On May 13th, a week later, at 11.30 a. m., he gave 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 19 

his second report without again seeing the picture. 
It ran thus : 

Robert H 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"A boy on a chair — a lady against the table — a 
floor — a box — a flower — a vase — a pudding — a bar- 
row on the floor." 

He enumerates the same things as before, with 
the addition of the chair. This time he has made 
three positional references, the boy is 'on' a chair, 
the lady is 'against' the table, and, as before, the 
barrow is 'on' the floor. He mentions 'floor' twice, 
but, of course, does not receive an additional mark 
because he mentions it a second time. For this re- 
port Eobert receives 13 marks, an improvement of 
30 per cent, on his first record. 

Then followed immediately his second interroga- 
tion and his self-correction exercise. The results of 
the two interrogations follow : 

Robert H 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on May 

6th and May 13th, Respectively, at 11.35 A. M. 

Fibst Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

1. Which side of the table There (showed There (showed 

was the lady standi- wrongly). wrongly). 
ing. 

2. What was she doing? Making a pudding. Making a pudding. 

3. How was she holding Like this (showed Like this (showed 

what she had in her wrongly). wrongly). 

hand? 

4. Had the lady anything Yes, Bird's* cus- Yes, Bird's cus- 

else in her hand be- tard. tard. 

sides what you have 
told me about? 

5. What clothes was the Clothes. A lot of clothes. 

lady wearing? 

6. What sort of a hat had Blue. (No answer.) 

she? 



*Bird is the name of a custard maker in England. 



20 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



Questions. 

7. What was she wearing 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see them? 

9. Had she a pinafore or 

apron on? 

10. Had she a frock on? 

11. What color was her 

blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 

12. What color was her 

skirt? 

13. What color was her 

apron or pinafore? 

14. What color were her 

boots? 

15. What color was her 

hair? 

16. What was the boy do- 

ing? 

17. How was he holding it? 



18. Where were the boy's 

feet? 

19. What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 

20. What color was the boy's 

jacket or coat? 

21. What color were his 

trousers or knickers? 

22. What color were his 

boots or shoes? 

23. What color were the 

boy's stockings? 

24. What color was his hair? 

25. What sort of boots had 

the boy? 

26. What sort of shoes had 

he? 

27. Did you see anything un- 

der the boy's chair? 



First Set of 
Answees. 


Second Set of 
Answees. 


Boots. 


Boots. 


Yes. 
Yes. 


Yes. 
Yes. 


Yes. 
Blue. 


Yes. 
Blue. 


Bed. 


Blue. 


White. 


White. 


Red. 


Black. 


Black. 


Black. 


He was eating an- 
other pudding. 

Like this (showed 
wrongly). It was 


Eating a piece of 

pudding. 
Like this (showed 

wrongly). 



made of custard. 

Bird's, you 

know, don't you; 

Bird's for the 

custard? 
On the big stick 

under the chair. 
He had a blue 

jersey and blue 

trousers. 
Red. 

Blue. 

Red. 

Black. 

Red. 
Black. 

Red. 

Yes. 



On the big stick 
under the chair. 

Blue trousers, blue 
waistcoat and 
blue jersey. 

Blue. 

Blue. 

Black. 

Black. 

Red. 
Black. 

Red. 

Yes. 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 



21 





Questions. 


Answers. 


Answers. 


28. 


Did you see a jug or 
vase? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


29. 


What color was the jug 
or vase? 


Blue. 


Blue. 


30. 


What did you see on the 
floor near the jug or 
vase? 


A thing. 


A barrow. 


31. 


What color was the ta- 
ble? 


Bed. 


Bed. 


32. 


What else was there on 


Bread and butter 


Bread and butter 




the table besides what 


and tea. 


and tea. 




the lady was holding? 






33. 


Did you see a knife? 


Yes, just by the 


Yes, just by the 






side of him. 


side of him. 


34. 


Whereabouts on the ta- 


By the table (show- 


By the table (show- 




ble was it? 


ed wrongly). 


ed wrongly). 


35. 


What color was the 


Black, and blue on 


Black, and blue on 




knife? 


it. 


it. 


36. 


Did you see a flower- 
pot? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


37. 


Where was it? 


On the cupboard. 


On the box. 


38, 


What color were the 
flowers? 


Blue. 


Blue. 


39. 


How many flowers were 
there ? 


A lot. 


A lot. 


40. 


What color were the 
leaves? 


Bed. 


Bed. 


41. 


How many leaves were 
there? 


A lot. 


A lot. 


42. 


What color was the 
flower-pot? 


Bed. 


Bed. 


43. 


What color was the cup- 
board or box? 


Blue. 


Blue. 


44. 


What did you see through 
the open window? 


(No answer.) 


Nothing. 


45. 


What did you see through 
the open door? 


Houses. 


Horses and carts. 


46. 


Did you see a window? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


47. 


What color were the 
walls of the room? 


Blue and white. 


Blue. 


48. 


What color was the car- 
pet? 


Blue and red. 


Blue. 


49. 


Did you see a carpet? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


50. 


What room was it? 


The kitchen. 


The kitchen. 




Eobert H is marked as havins 


? 17 correct an- 



swers the first week and 21 the second week. On the 



22 children's perceptions 

first occasion only two color names were applied cor- 
rectly, and these answers may be random shots ; for a 
subsequent investigation showed that he called red 
things blue; even his own red Jersey, to which he 
was well accustomed, was called 'blue* quite unhesi- 
tatingly. As might have been expected, he knew the 
names of boys' clothes and mentioned various gar- 
ments quite spontaneously, whilst he * hedged' in the 
case of the lady's clothes by vague expressions ; and, 
though the names of the lady's clothes were used in 
the questions, he remained quite vague. But he is 
certainly one of the most intelligent of the 3-year- 
old boys in this school, and had correctly noticed 
many things in his one minute 's look at the picture. 
As is usually the case, his second interrogatory is 
better than his first; and a careful comparison of 
his second week's answers with those of his first 
may indicate how far the actual suggestiveness of 
the first week's questions have favorably or unfav- 
orably influenced his second week's answers. The 
lady's skirt, which he calls "Bed" the first time, he 
calls "Blue" the second time, and gets a mark for 
his second answer; this may very well be a chance 
shot. He calls the lady's and the boy's boots "Ked" 
the first time and "Black" the second time, and 
scores marks for what is probably the knowledge 
that boots are black rather than for correct observa- 
tions of the boots in the picture. He recovers from 
two suggestive influences which somewhat overcame 
him in the first week. The lady's hat, which is non- 
existent, he calls "Blue" the first week, but the sec- 
ond week gives no answer to the question "What 
sort of a hat had she?" To the question "What did 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 23 

you see through the open window?" he gives no an- 
swer the first week, but says, ' ' Nothing, ' ' unhesitat- 
ingly, the second week. The walls of the room are 
correctly described as 'blue' the second week, but are 
described as 'blue and white' the preceding week. 
In all other respects he repeats himself almost word 
for word. Two of his identifications change; the 
'cupboard' becomes the 'box;' this may have been 
due to the questions in which the word 'box' was 
used. 'A thing' becomes a 'barrow;' these expres- 
sions being used for the school boy's satchel. 

Method of Marking the Answers to the Questions. 

I hope that Aussage experiments with this Break- 
fast Picture will be made in other English and in 
American schools, and that teachers and psycholo- 
gists will wish to compare the results of their work 
with those of mine. If this is likely to be done, it 
becomes of extreme importance for me to make quite 
clear how the answers were marked. What is a right 
answer? Hasty persons, among whom there are 
some educationists, will be very likely to pooh-pooh 
such a question, and to regard it as superfluous. But 
it is a very necessary one. Let me put it in another 
form. How far shall the child be permitted to devi 
ate from our adult perceptual attitude and our 
knowledge before we call his answer wrong 1 ? With 
this form of the question in mind, I propose to discuss 
the questions and the kinds of answers which were 
accepted. The questions vary much in difficulty, 
and I suggest to the teachers that they put a mark 
against those which they think the most difficult, 
those which they think of medium difficulty, and 



24 children's perceptions 

those which they think are easiest for children. I 
can promise them some interesting surprises when 
they come to compare their preconceived opinions 
with the results actually found. 

Question 1. Which side of the table ivas the lady 
standing? The child who observed the picture and 
was questioned about it afterwards, stood before an 
actual table, at one end, so that the right-hand side 
of the table in the picture where the lady was stand- 
ing, corresponded with the right-hand side of the 
actual table, where the child was standing. Young 
children would therefore almost invariably point out 
where the lady was standing, as if she were standing 
at the very table which was then in front of them. 
If they pointed anywhere along the right-hand side 
of the table, their answer was accepted as correct. 
All the 3-year-old children in this school pointed out 
a place; they all used some words in addition, such 
as, " There," "Over there," "On the other side;" 
and they all, except one, pointed out the wrong side 
of the table, or to the front, or to the back of it. 
This is in striking contrast with the work of senior 
children, as we shall see more fully by-and-by. When 
we come to classify the questions later on, we shall 
call this a ' position' question, and we shall scarcely 
be surprised to find little children with an imperfect 
apprehension of position ; but when we see how im- 
perfect we shall be more careful in our teaching than 
we now are to refrain from using positional terms to 
them which are almost certain to be misunderstood. 

Question 2. What was the lady doing f This 
question apparently admits of a large variety of an- 
swers. A sophisticated adult might, with consider- 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 25 

able justification, say, "Nothing;" but that is not 

usually what children say. Ena M , as we saw 

above, said, "Holding some pudding" for her first 
answer, and "Making a pudding" for her second an- 
swer. Other 3-year-old children said, "Cutting pud- 
ding," "Holding the pie," "Cutting the bread" 
(three children said this), "She had a pudding," 
"Making a pudding," "She's got a basin," "Put- 
ting the dish away." All the answers are accepted 
in which it is obvious that the children have ob- 
served that the woman is holding something. That 
is the action of the woman which the picture por- 
trays. But if the children call the thing she is hold- 
ing a pie, a cake, a basin, a dish, as well as bread, 
are their identifications to be accepted? I asked a 
large class of English students — principals and 
other experienced teachers — what they thought the 
lady was holding. Only one knew it was a loaf of 
the German 'black-bread,' which had figured so 
hugely on English placards (but drawn wrongly) 
during the tariff reform and free-trade controversy 
at recent Parliamentary elections. The majority 
plumped for Christmas pudding (they had recent 
memories of their own) and what Englishman shall 
say they were wrong ! Some answers — a very few — 
were given to this question which did not deal with 
what the woman was holding, such as, "Looking 
down at the table." They were accepted as indicat- 
ing an activity of the woman, though a less obvious 
one than that of holding the cake ; but no 3-year-old 
child gave such an answer. 

Question 3. Hoiv was the lady holding what she 
had in her hand? This is another ' position' ques- 



26 children's perceptions 

tion; but much more difficult than Question 1. No 
3-year-old child was able to answer correctly; eight 
of the ten of them showed by means of their own 
arms and hands how the lady was holding the thing, 
and two of them said, ' ' Like this ; ' ' one said, ' ' With 
two hands;" another said, "As if she was going to 
cut the bread;" another, "With that hand;" an- 
other, "In her hand;" but none of the answers 
showed that the children had observed and remem- 
bered that one of the woman's hands and forearm 
were round the front of the bread, and that the other 
hand was lying flat, palm downwards, on an upper 
edge of it. To expect a correct verbal description 
of these positions, even from older children, would 
be absurd, but I must confess to some surprise at 
finding no spontaneous observations, or almost none, 
which seemed to embrace these points. 

Question 4. Had the lady anything else in her 
hand beside the thing you have told me about? A 
reference to the picture will show that the lady had 
nothing else in her hand. What then is the pur- 
pose of such a question as this? Inspectors and 
teachers frequently complain that children "will 
say anything," by which they mean they will ac- 
cept whatever is suggested to them, even if it be put 
indirectly as a question. And a frequent complaint 
against many of our methods of elementary educa- 
tion is based upon the opinion that much of our ap- 
parently excellent teaching results in a sort of hyp- 
notism of the pupils by the teacher. The teacher con- 
ducts the lesson and the pupils strike in here and 
there with wonderful success, but with little, if any, 
real thought on their own part. In the language of 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 27 

the psychologist, children are eminently suggest- 
ible. One of the tasks of education is to break down 
this suggestibility, and throw the children on their 
own intellectual resources. This question then is a 

question to test suggestibility. Ena M said in 

answer to this question, "Yes — dripping." Other 
answers given by 3-year-old children were, "Only 
a spoon;" "A big pie;" "Yes, Bird's custard;" 
"Yes, milk" (this child in the second interrogatory 
said stoutly "No"); "Yes, the dish;" "Yes, a 
knife;" "Yes, she had" (this child corrected herself 
the week after, and said "No, only the pudding") ; 
1 ' Yes, a loaf ; " " A knife, ' ' Not a single child resisted 
the suggestion at first; two of them repeated what 
they said before, namely, ' ' A big pie ' ' and ' ' A loaf ; ' ' 
perhaps they did not understand what was meant by 
that part of the question which ran "besides the 
thing you have told me about, ' ' and just told us what 
they had told us before about what the lady was 
holding. 

An interesting point is that, a week after, when 
they were questioned again, the suggestion did not 
operate with two of them, for they rejected it; 
though all the rest repeated in identical words just 
what they had said the week before. There is a strik- 
ing difference in the way in which older and more 
intelligent children respond to questions like this, 
as will be seen more fully later on. 

Question 5. What clothes was the lady ivearing? 
We decided to accept as right answers any which 
included the frock and pinafore or apron; thus 
' ' frock and apron, " or " skirt, blouse, and pinafore, ' ' 
or "skirt, bodice, and apron" would all be accepted 



28 children's perceptions 

as correct. No 3-year-old child gave a correct an- 
swer the first week, though some did the second week. 
Three of these children repeated the word 'clothes' 
for both the first and second time of asking, and got 
no further. The mental operation due to the subse- 
quent questions of the first week may have pro- 
duced the improvement found on the second occa- 
sion. 

Question 6. What sort of a hat had she? This is 
another question to test suggestibility; since the 
lady was not wearing a hat. Hats of various colors 
were ascribed to her, white hats, dark hats, black 
hats, blue hats and red hats. One child gave no an- 
swer the first week and said "Nothing" the second 
week ; and three children, after giving the lady a hat 
the first week, gave no answer the second week. It 
looks very much as if there were some factor in the 
original impression which, so to speak, had more 
durability than the thought which was the effect of 
the suggestion, for the children were not told they 
were wrong. To those adults who think these chil- 
dren are lying or are stupid I suggest using the pic- 
ture with one or two of their grown-up friends. 
They will, if I mistake not, obtain more than one 
description of the lady's hat. 

Question 7. What was the lady wearing on her 
feet? 'Boots' or 'shoes' or 'slippers' were all ac- 
cepted as correct answers; one cannot really tell 
from the picture which they are; though she is ob- 
viously wearing one of the three. But her feet are 
not clearly visible, and so the next question is about 
them. 

Question 8. Could you see her feet? This is some- 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 29 

what of the nature of a suggestive question ; but as 
the answer "Yes" is the correct answer and the 
child may have seen them, we shall not include this 
when we are working out a table of suggestibility. 

Question 9. Had she a pinafore or an apron on? 
This is a similar question to Number 8. It is sug- 
gestive, and the suggested answer is the right one. 
Only one 3-year-old child said "No," and she ad- 
hered to it on both occasions. 

Question 10. Had she a frock on? This question 
is similar to Questions 8 and 9. All the 3-year-old 
children answered correctly. It is a suggestive ques- 
tion; but the suggestion may have awakened and 
strengthened a fading memory; we cannot be sure 
that it wholly produced the answer; consequently 
we accepted 'yes' as correct. 

Questions 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. All these are color 
questions ; there is nothing in the form of the ques- 
tion to suggest the answer. We ask for the color of 
the top part of the lady's frock, of her skirt, of her 
apron or pinafore, of her boots, or shoes, and of her 
hair. 'Brown' and 'dark brown' were accepted as 
correct answers about the lady's hair. Of course it 
was unusual for the child to see a lady wearing a 
'red' apron. "The novelty would strike them," I 
can hear one of my readers exclaim. Well, it did 
not appear to; both color perceptions and color 
names with children of this age are very unreliable 
from an adult point of view. Ena M— — 's answers 
are obsessed by 'green.' This, however, is not the 
most usual color name for very young children to 
apply so freely. 'White,' 'black,' 'red' and 'blue' 
are much more commonly used; though the word 



30 children's perceptions 

'dark' occurs now and then also. We shall prob- 
ably find, whatever emotional effect colors may have 
upon children of this age, that, intellectually, as iden- 
tified and named elements, they occupy a very low 
place. This will very clearly be seen when we study 
the tables which give the analyzed results for all the 
3-year-old children. Let us now turn to questions 
about the boy. 

Question 16. What ivas the boy doing? Every 
child has told us that there was a boy in the picture, 
so that the observation of the presence of the boy 
might be taken for granted. But what was he doing ? 
A considerable variety in the answer might accom- 
pany a correct observation. The 3-year-old children 
gave such answers as "Had some cake," "Eating 
his pie," "Eating a piece of pudding," "Eating a 
cake" (this was said three times), "Eating a pud- 
ding, " " Eating a piece of bread, " " Drinking milk. ' ' 
One child said, at her first interrogatory, that he 
was reading; and one child gave "Nothing" for her 
first answer ; but both these children gave an accept- 
able answer a week afterwards. Actions, though 
there is less tendency with young children to make 
a spontaneous report about them than to enumerate 
persons and things, are still among the earlier phases 
of mental experience which are perceived and named. 
It is noticeable that only one 3-year-old child said 
"Sitting down" in answer to this question, and 
these words were given in addition to an allusion to 
the boy's eating activities. The selective interest in 
eating is not, be it said, confined to schools in poor 
neighborhoods. 

Question 17. How was he holding what he had in 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 31 

his hand? "In his hand" was not accepted as a cor- 
rect answer to this question ; the child was required 
to show by holding his own hand in a similar posi- 
tion, how the boy was holding the cake. This is a 
position question of great difficulty, and correct an- 
swers were very, very rare even among the boys and 
girls in senior schools. Let anyone who is skeptical 
as to the difficulty try a few intelligent adults with 
the question. The interest attaching to it lies just 
here. It is sometimes said that children notice de- 
tails very minutely ; but details of position must de- 
cidedly be excluded from the details which they no- 
tice. They do not report them and do not answer 
correctly when questioned about them. 

Question 18. Where were the boy's feet? This is 
another position question. The picture in this case 
lays a trap for the non-observant, for it is not good 
family etiquette for little boys in Germany to put 
their feet on the rungs of chairs, especially when 
they are, so to speak, officially receiving breakfast. 
Nor for that matter is it in England. Yet the un- 
usual position of the boy's feet does not impress 
these children. "On the floor" was the favorite an- 
swer: "Under the table" was another. Only one 
3-year-old boy was marked for a correct observa- 
tion. He said "On the big stick under the chair" — 
a most unusual answer for so young a child. This 
question, however, unlike the one requiring the posi- 
tion of the boy's hands, was answered very much 
better by the older boys and girls. We can conceive, 
with big children, an influence from previous per- 
sonal objurgation inducing a more perceptive atti- 
tude on the matter ; but 3-year-old children could not 



32 CHILDREN^ PERCEPTIONS 

get their legs on the rungs of chairs in that way, even 
if they tried. The children are not giving us observ- 
ations ; they are falling back on what they know to be 
customary. But they do not knoiv that they are not 
giving us observations, and that knowledge is just 
what we want them to have. One boy, much older, 
said ' ' On his legs ; ' ' but he was, I think, evading the 
question. 

Question 19. What clothes was the boy wearing? 
In consultation with the teachers who were helping 
me with this experiment,. I decided to allow any an- 
swer as indicating a correct observation which gave 
either 'coat,' 'jacket' or 'blouse' with either 
'trousers' or 'knickers.' I am aware that 'blouse' 
and 'coat' may seem far asunder to adult minds; 
but after careful consideration we decided that they 
were not thus clearly differentiated in the minds of 

the little ones. In Ena M 's first report she 

alludes to trousers only. Albert M said, laconic- 
ally, "Things" for his first answer, and "Clothes" 
for his second. One boy said "He was dressed up 
like a girl." It is doubtful whether this answer 
was due to the variegated nature of the boy's cloth- 
ing, for this child had one color name only, and an- 
swered "white" to every color-question that was 
given him; but it might have been. One girl said 
"black clothes." Children who gave him a hat or 
waistcoat as well as a coat and trousers were not 
regarded as correct; the mention or omission of 
shoes and stockings was considered irrelevant. 

Questions 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. What color ivas the 
boy's coat or jacket; trousers or knickers; boots or 
shoes; stockings; and hair? There is no difficulty as 



FIRST SEKIES OP EXPERIMENTS 33 

to the answers which ought to be given to these ques- 
tions, except with reference to the boy's hair. The 
following answers about the color of his hair were 
accepted as correct: golden; yellow; brown; light 
brown ; ginger. The 3-year-old children did not give 
all these answers. Ena M , as we saw when read- 
ing the dossier relating to her work, said, ' ' green. ' ' 
Other answers were 'black' (three times), 'blue' 
(twice), 'dark,' 'white' (twice), 'red,' 'yellow.' One 
could not be convinced that any child had made a 
correct perception of the boy's hair; but a mark for 
correct observation was given to the child who said 
"Yellow." 

The remaining color-questions about the boy's 
clothing, except the one relating to his boots or 
shoes, are not at all likely to be answered correctly 
except on the basis of correct observation. Boys, 
neither in Germany nor England, wear bright-green 
jackets, bright-red trousers, and blue stockings. The 
defective color-sense, and still more, the defective 
color terminology of very young children, would lead 
us to expect very few correct answers ; and the accu- 
racy of the actual answers falls below even that lim- 
ited expectation. For these young children do not 
seem to have noticed even the 'red' trousers which 
we might reasonably have supposed they would have 
perceived and named. Only one child gave 'red' for 
the color of the trousers, and only one gave 'green' 
for the color of the jacket ; and both of these answers 
may quite well have been guesses. The answers 
were, however, accepted as correct observations. 
There were five 3-year-old children who said the 
boy's shoes were black, and adhered to that answer* 



34 children's perceptions 

In all probability this high percentage of correct an- 
swers arose from the children's knowledge that boots 
were black and not from their recent observation of 
the picture. Other answers were 'wides,' but in 
every case color names of some kind were given as 
answers. His stockings were given as 'black' 
(twice), 'brown,' 'green,' 'white' (twice), and only 
three times as 'blue;' and one of these answers of 
'blue' comes from a child whose only color name is 
'blue;' she answers "blue" to every color question 
she is asked. It is clear that, if children at this age 
delight in colored pictures, it is not because they are 
keen on the identification and discrimination of the 
colors as adults know them ; nor have they acquired 
what, from our adult standpoint, is a satisfactory 
color terminology by means of which to express 
their perceptions. 

Question 25. What sort of boots had the boy? 
This is another question to test suggestibility. The 
boy was obviously not wearing boots; but young 
children, even if they notice the distinction between 
boots and shoes, are ready to accept the implied sug- 
gestion that the boy had boots on. One child said 
"Sunday boots;" one said "A pair of boots;" but 
the majority gave a color name. None of these chil- 
dren rejected the suggestion. As I have said before, 
striking differences will be found to occur with older 
and abler children in answer to questions of this 
kind. 

Question 26. What sort of shoes had the boyf 
Similar answers were given to those for the pre- 
ceding question. One girl, however, having told us 
that the boy's boots were 'dark,' repudiated 'shoes' 



FIKST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 35 

altogether, and answered: "He ain't got no shoes, 
he ain't." This was her first answer; the second 
week she would not answer at all when the question 
about the shoes was repeated; though she repeated 
her first week's answer of "dark" when asked about 
the boots. 

Question 27. Did you see anything under the boy's 
chair? A reference to the picture will show that 
there is something under the boy's chair — a jug or 
vase, to wit ; and it is a very unusual place for such a 
thing to be. Four 3-year-old children said "No;" 
four said * ' Yes, ' ' and two gave no answer. The an- 
swer 'Yes' was accepted as correct unless the child 
went on, as it did in three of these affirmations, to 
say what it was — wrongly. One said "Yes, a 
mouse." Another said "Yes, a bat." A third said 
"Yes, a spoon." These are not 'lies;' the child does 
not intend to deceive ; an associated idea comes to his 
mind, or rather, arises within his mind, with the 
same sort of feeling of reality as a remembered per- 
ception. I do not assert that children of three can- 
not lie ; that they cannot, with intent to deceive, assert 
that which is not ; but we must not accept a solution 
of this kind in such cases as these. These are not 
cases of imagination, unless we are prepared to ac- 
cept the term 'imagination' for mental products 
which are purely matters of defective memory. A 
spoon, a mouse, a cricket bat ; what more likely to be 
under the boy's chair! They have probably been 
seen under chairs on several occasions. In these an- 
swers there has not been even a new synthesis of re- 
membered things, and this at least we should re- 
quire before dignifying the mental product with the 



36 children's perceptions 

term ' imagination. ' There appears to be a mental 
stage which is, as it were, a sort of complex which 
is neither memory, as we know it, nor imagination, 
as we know it ; it is that mental condition from which 
memory and imagination are differentiated and 
from which each emerges as such. To throw the 
child upon his own resources in observation of this 
kind and to endeavor to secure a self-correction of 
his errors are some of the means of helping forward 
this process of mental differentiation. There is no 
way by which the teacher can do this for the child. 

Question 28. Did you see a jug or a vase? This 
question is of the nature of a suggestive question, 
and the child that succumbs to the suggestion and an- 
swers "Yes," without having any memory of hav- 
ing observed the 'jug' or 'vase,' obtains a mark for 
a correct observation. This does not seem satisfac- 
tory ; but, having asked the question, I was bound to 
allow a mark for the affirmative answer ; since it was 
always possible that such an answer might arise 
from the memory (assisted by suggestion) of an 
actual perception of the thing, and not merely from 
the suggestive influence of the question. At present 
it seems to me that such questions should be avoided 
in subsequent interrogation for Aussage purposes. 
Two 3-year-old children said they had not seen the 
jug and adhered to this on their second interrogation 
a week later. Eight of them answered "Yes," both 
on the first and second occasion on which they were 
questioned. 

Question 29. What color was the jug? Only one 

child, Ena M , gave the color correctly, and she 

used the color name 'green' with a lavishness which 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 37 

to us adults seems quite reckless — she had probably 
not observed that the jug was green. Other colors 
given were 'white' and 'blue' — customary colors for 
English jugs, which green is not. We must not, 
however, suppose that none of the children saw the 
jug because they could not remember the color ; any- 
one can obtain satisfactory evidence in a minute or 
two that children (and adults) can and do observe 
things whose colors they have neither remembered 
nor perceived. 

Question 30. Was there anything on the floor 
near the jug, and if so, what ivas itf This question 
has reference to the school-boy's satchel which, as 
has been pointed out previously, was in a form to 
which English school-children were quite unaccus- 
tomed. They did not know what it was, and it is 
interesting to see that this lack of knowledge prob- 
ably caused the thing to be passed over and neg- 
lected. One 3-year-old said "a sugar-basin" the 
first week and "nothing" the second week. The 
first answer is evidently the result of an associa- 
tion between 'jug' and 'basin.' The association 
does not reappear the second week; the child then 
answers "nothing." Both answers are wrong; that 
is, neither receives a mark on our system of mark- 
ing; but the second answer, from the standpoint of 
fidelity of report, is obviously a better answer than 
the first. A second child said "beer" the first week, 
and gave no answer the second week — another asso- 
ciated error which the interval between the two in- 
terrogations appeared to correct. A third child 
gave no answer on both occasions. A fourth child 
gave "a man and a bat" the first week and "a boy" 



38 children's perceptions 

the second week. A fifth child said "a thing" and 
gave the same answer the second week ; this was ac- 
cepted as a correct observation ; it was made by the 
ablest of this group of 3-year-old children. A sixth 
child said, "shoes" the first week and "a chair" the 
second week ; both of these were doubtless observed 
objects, but neither, as children express themselves, 
could be said to be on the floor as well as near the 
jug. A seventh child said "nothing" to both inter- 
rogations, and ejaculated her answer with decision ; 
she was one of the ablest of the group. Another child 
answered "nothing" and adhered to that answer the 
second week. *4 

Question 31. What color was the table? This 
question appears as if 'shot out of a pistol;' but it 
must be remembered that, with scarcely an excep- 
tion, the children had noticed and reported upon the 
table, and that the interrogatory followed imme- 
diately upon their report. 'Yellow,' 'brown,' and 
'cream' were accepted as correct answers. As was 
usual where colors were concerned, the answers of 
the 3-year-old children were mostly 'wides;' color - 
names were given in answer to the question, but very 
rarely correct ones. 'Blue' and 'green' figured as 
well as 'white;' as indeed, in one instance, did 'red.' 
In no single case among the 3-year-old children was 
a mark obtained for a correct answer ; though I was 
sorely tempted to give a mark to a little boy who 
said "I don't know;" his answer from the stand- 
point of faithful reporting was probably the best. 
He knew that he did not know; the others had not 
advanced as far as that. 

Question 32. What else ivas on the table besides 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 39 

ivhat the lady was holding? This question suggests 
that something was there, but does not give a clue 
to the answer. One boy succumbed to the association 
aroused and said "Bread and butter and tea." 
He repeated his answer in exactly the same words 
a week later. A second gave no answer the first time 
and said "nothing" the second time. A third child 
succumbed to an associative error and said "butter" 
on both occasions. A fourth said "nothing" the 
first time, and repeated the same answer a week 
later. A fifth said "cups and saucers" the first 
time, but answered correctly "a knife" a week later. 
This may have been due to the working of the sug- 
gestive question which followed this one on the 
first interrogation, namely, "Did you see a knife?" 
A sixth child gave no answer on either occasion. A 
seventh said "only a loaf" and repeated the same an- 
swer a week later. An eighth gave no answer the 
first week, but at the second interrogation answered : 
1 ' a tea-pot. ' ' A ninth child answered : ' ' butter ' ' and 
"dripping" at the first and second interrogations, 
respectively. And the tenth said "milk" the first 
week, and added to her answer the second week by 
saying "milk and sugar." 

Question 33. Did you see a knife? This is rather 
an unsatisfactory question, since an affirmative an- 
swer must needs receive a mark as a correct obser- 
vation ; for such an answer may have been the result 
of an actual perception. On the other hand very 
suggestible children will readily answer "yes." In 
fact, every one of the ten 3-year-old children an- 
swered "yes" to this question, both on their first 
and second interrogation. 



40 children's perceptions 

Question 34. Whereabouts on the table ivas the 
knife ? It might be thought that this question and 
the next, What color was it? would afford us a 
means of judging whether the answer to Question 33 
was a guess due to suggestion or an actual observa- 
tion; but a moment's reflection will remind us that 
children most certainly do observe things without 
noticing their positions or colors, a consideration 
which prevents us from accepting their answers on 
these points as a sufficient criterion of the reliability 
of an affirmative answer to Question 33. 

This is another 'position' question, and, as usual 
with young and mentally undeveloped children, was 
very badly answered. One said the knife was in the 
lady's hand and adhered to that answer. Five of 
them showed a position on the actual table before 
which they were standing, but their answers, though 
given with no lack of confidence, were 'wides.' Two 
children gave no answer or said they did not know. 
Two only obtained marks for correct observation; 
one of these said "Against the boy in the picture," 
and the other said ' ' Just by the side of him. ' ' With 
older children who gave their answers in descriptive 
words the following answers were accepted as cor- 
rect: "In the middle of the table near the edge;" 
' ' By the edge of the table ; " " By the boy ; " " Nearly 
falling off the table. ' ' 

Question 35. What color was the knife? By this 
question was meant, "What color was the handle of 
the knife? ; but, as the question was badly expressed, 
it was necessary to allow "white and black," or 
"black handle," or "black," or "brown," as correct 
answers. It was not a very serious matter as far 



FIKST SEEIES OF EXPEKIMENTS 41 

as the 3-year-old children were concerned, for they 
answered "green," "blue," "black and bine," and, 
as usual in answer to color questions, confidently 
ascribed to the object their prevailing color-names. 
Three children said * black' and were credited with 
marks. Their knives at home may have been black- 
handled; but these observation experiments cannot 
exclude the influence of previous knowledge ; and if 
this knowledge is sometimes helpful, it is also some- 
times misleading. 

Question 36. Did you see a floiver-pot? This is 
another rather unsatisfactory question, for a sug- 
gestible child can once more score a mark even 
though it neither saw nor remembered the flower-pot. 
Of course, we cannot be sure that a child who an- 
swered "Yes" may not have seen and remembered 
the flower-pot; and to some who had seen but had 
forgotten it, the word 'flower-pot' would serve to re- 
vive the memory. Every 3-year-old child in this 
group answered "yes" to this question in both the 
first and second interrogations. 

Question 37. Where was the flower-pot? This 
was another 'position' question. Only four of the 
3-year-old children gave a correct answer at the first 
interrogatory, though the number was increased to 
seven at the second interrogatory. "On a box," 
" On a stool, " "On the cupboard, ' ' were accepted as 
correct, whilst with older children "On a trunk" and 
"On a packing-case" were also accepted. It might 
be objected that 'stool' is not a legitimate identifica- 
tion of box, but that objection hardly touches the 
position of the flower-pot in relation to the thing it 
was standing on. One child who said ' ' On the table" 



42 children's perceptions 

the first week, and was marked wrong, said ' ' Stand- 
ing on a thing" the next week, and was marked right. 
Another child who said "On the floor" the first time, 
answered correctly the second time, "On a box." 
One child said "Under the table" on both occasions. 
Two others said "On the table" on both occasions. 
Another pointed wrongly to a part of the room in 
which she was being questioned, but, a week later, 
answered correctly, "On a box." Older children 
showed much superiority in answering this question. 

Question 38. What color were the floiversf I ex- 
pected rather a large number of correct answers 
to this question, even from the 3-year-old children, 
for 'red' is one of the earliest of children's color - 
names, and one of the earliest color sensations to be 
discriminated. But only three of the ten children of 
this age answered the question correctly. Those who 
were right gave the same answer on both occasions. 
Two children gave "white" on both interrogations. 
Five others gave "blue" and adhered to it a week 
later. It is hard to believe that there is anything 
here but sheer guess-work application of the color- 
names of flowers known to the children, without any 
present observational factor at all. Four-year-old 
children are much better, and in no single case of 
5-, 6-, or 7-year-old children is there an error. Again 
there seems an indication that, whatever interest 
very young children may have in colors, it is not one 
which leads to correct identification and remem- 
brance. 

Question 39. Row many flowers were there? This 
is an extremely hard question for very young children, 
as, indeed, 'number' questions always are. It is true 



FIRST SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 43 

that many of the children could have answered cor- 
rectly if they had been told to count how many 
flowers there were there, but the experiment aims at 
finding out the spontaneous observations of children, 
and very few indeed noted definitely the number of 
the flowers, even though it was a small number, 
namely, three. There seemed litle growth of this 
power until 6 years of age, and even at 7 years of 
age the answers were mostly incorrect. Of the 3- 
y ear-old children, four answered "A lot," and ad- 
hered to it. One said "Only one flower" the first 
week, but advanced to "A lot" the second week. 
Another said "them" (showing two fingers), and a 
week later "them" (showing four fingers). An- 
other said "three" the first week and "four" the 
second week. Another said "three" the first week 
and "two" the second week; another "one" the first 
week and "two" a week later. The other answers 
were correct. In this school there was no advance 
in accuracy from the first week to the second ; there 
was a slight — a very slight — movement in the op- 
posite direction. 

Question 40. What color were the leaves? All 
but one of the 5-year-old children answered correctly 
on both interrogations, and most of the 4-year-old 
children. But only two of the 3-year-old children 
gave correct answers. The older children know that 
"leaves are green;" the answer, therefore, may not 
have been the result of a remembered perception, 
but the distribution of correct answers among the 
children of various ages is almost identical with that 
of the correct answers for the colors of the flowers, 
and flowers are certainly not known to be red. 



44 children's perceptions 

Among the 3-year-old children it would hardly be 
safe to conclude that any of them perceived and re- 
membered the color of the leaves, for the application 
of the color-names possessed by these children might 
give us 'green' twice as a matter of chance merely. 
Other color names given by this group were 'blue' 
(four times), 'red' (twice), 'white' and 'brown.' 

Question 41. How many leaves were there? This 
is another number question, a much more difficult 
one than that about the number of the flowers. None 
of these children in this infant school gave a correct 
answer. It may be said, and said truly, that these 
children do not want to know the number of the 
leaves for any purpose whatever, and, therefore, 
they are not likely to notice it. But every observer 
of young children must have noticed that they often 
count and enumerate as a matter of play, that is, as 
a satisfying occupation for its own sake. However 
this may be, the numerical interest as such was 
found to be very small in these children. Answers 
given by the 3-year-old children were 'one,' 'two,' 
'three,' 'four,' 'five' and 'a lot.' 'A lot' was much 
the predominating answer — a very good answer for 
these young children; but it was not marked cor- 
rect, for one of the objects of the experiment was 
to see how far the spontaneous tendency to correct 
enumeration was evident in children of various ages. 
No infant-school child in this or in the other infant 
school in which the experiment was made gave a 
correct answer. It might be argued that they would 
have done so, had more time been given for looking 
at the picture ; but we are entitled to infer that they 
appear to possess very little interest, as compared 



FIEST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 45 

with that shown in other things, in the question of 
exact enumeration. 

Question 42. What color was the flower-pot? 
This question should have been placed with Num- 
bers 36 and 37, which also dealt with the flower-pot. 
The flower-pot in the picture was a darkish-red, and 
a few older children answered "brown," an answer 
which was accepted as correct. The 4-, 5-, and 6- 
year-old children were almost all correct, but the 
3-year-old children gave only two correct answers, 
those given on the first and second interrogations 
being, for all these children, precisely the same. Of 
the 3-year-old children, two said "black;" two said 
"white;" three said "blue;" one said "green." 
The two correct answers look like a chance applica- 
tion of well-known color-names. 

Question 43. What color was the box or cupboard? 
The box was painted a light brownish-yellow, so that 
it was necessary to accept either 'brown' or 'yellow' 
as an answer to the question, and, with older chil- 
dren, a few answers of 'cream' were accepted as cor- 
rect. Five-, six-, and seven-year-old children an- 
swered very well ; but 3-year-old children and 4-year- 
old children were quite at sea. 'Yellow' and 'brown' 
are color names which are late in development; 
'yellow' especially is a hard word for young chil- 
dren to learn to say. But is there any evidence that 
they noticed the color of the box at all? The 3-year- 
old children in this school gave 'dark,' 'blue' (three 
times), 'white' (twice), 'black' (twice), and 'green;' 
one child gave no answer. Each child repeated, a 
week later, the same answer as at the first interro- 
gation. 



46 children's perceptions 

Question 44. What did you see through the open 
window? This is a question to test suggestibility. 
In this form a suggestive question is very difficult 
to answer correctly, for the implication of the exist- 
ence of the window is very strong. The word ' open ' 
adds to the difficulty, for there was an open door in 
the picture, though there was no window. The child 
was considered to have resisted the suggestion if the 
answer were given "There was no window," or 
"Nothing," or even if the child persisted in giving 
no answer to the question. No 3-year-old child re- 
sisted the suggestion, though more than half of the 
4-year-old children did so. The answers of the 
youngest group are instructive and amusing. One 
said "a cat" the first time and "a dog" the second 
time; another said "flowers" on both occasions; a 
third said "a cat" on both occasions; a fourth said 
"curtains" twice; a fifth said "blue" the first time 
and "all blue" the second time (she was not think- 
ing of the appearance through the open door, as I 
thought at first, for she called that "white" in an- 
swer to the next question) ; a sixth said "a lady" 
and adhered to that answer; a seventh said "a 
flower;" an eighth said "a boy" the first week and 
"a pussy" the second week; a ninth said "nobody," 
but, in answer to another question, asserted that he 
had seen a window ; the tenth child gave no answer, 
but also asserted that he had seen a window. None 
of these children, therefore, were considered as hav- 
ing resisted the suggestion of the 'window.' 

Question 46. Did you see a window? This was 
another question to test suggestibility. It is in a 
different form from that of Question 44, and one 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 47 

that, with older children, would be less likely to mis- 
lead ; the implication of the existence of the window 
is certainly not so strong. But little children, and 
some older ones, are anxious to gain credit for hav- 
ing seen things, even when they may clearly remem- 
ber that they have not seen them. Yet it is not ne- 
cessary to adopt an hypothesis of conscious deceit. 
For, with little ones at least, the suggested idea of 
a window and a memory idea of a window are not 
discriminated, as they are with older and more in- 
telligent children. Every 3-year-old child an- 
swered in the affirmative. 

Question 45. What did you see through the open 
door? This is another question to test suggestibil- 
ity; for, though there ivas an open door, there was 
nothing to be seen through it unless we accept 'the 
sky,' or 'blue,' or 'white' as correct answers, as well 
as 'nothing.' Let us accept these answers as indicat- 
ing a memory of an actual perception, and regard 
all other answers as indicating a failure to resist the 
suggestion. Until 6 years of age, the majority of the 
children failed to answer correctly. The 3-year-old 
children, as in the case of Question 44, gave both 
instructive and amusing answers. One said 
"houses" the first week and "horses and carts" the 
second week; a second said "a lady" (twice) ; a third 
said "a flower-pot" the first week, but gave no an- 
swer the second week. There is again an indication 
here, both in the variation in the answers from the 
first to the second week — an unusual thing — and in 
the frequent rejection of an erroneous suggestion the 
sceond week, after it had been accepted the week be- 
fore, that there is an element of permanency about 



48 children's perceptions 

the answers having some recent sensational basis 
which is lacking to the merely suggested idea. If this 
turns out to be true, its importance for the science 
of evidence and the proper time for receiving testi- 
mony is considerable. A fourth child said ' ' nobody ' ' 
and "nothing"; a fifth gave no answer on either in- 
terrogation; a sixth said "white" (twice) ; a seventh 
said ' ' a knocker ' ' ( twice ) ; an eighth said ' ' a daddy ' ' ; 
a ninth said "nothing" the first time and succumbed 
the second time in answering "flowers" — a reverse 
operation to the usual process; the tenth said "a 
windmill" the first week and a week later "a lady." 
It would be a valuable investigation, if the data were 
sufficiently extensive for the children of each age, to 
summarize in classes the kind of associative errors 
which are made. All the errors of these three-year- 
old children seem to be easily traceable to previous 
experience, either of actual things or pictures of 
them. 

Question 47. What color were the walls of the 
room? The color of the walls, as may be seen by 
reference to the picture, is a greyish slatey blue ; it 
was necessary, therefore, to accept 'blue,' 'dark- 
blue,' 'grey,' or 'slate-color' as correct answers. 
Not, of course, that these 3-year-old children gave 
either 'grey' or 'slate-color' for any of their an- 
swers; these refinements of color terminology do 
not arise, except with older children. Of the 3-year- 
old children in this school, one said "dark;" two 
said "black;" three said "blue," two said "white;" 
one said "green"; and one said "brown." It is 
very doubtful whether there is much reliability to be 
placed upon these results as indications of actual 



FIRST SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 49 

observation and memory of definite color ; the dark- 
ness of the walls may have been perceived and re- 
membered ; there is some indication that it has been, 
but beyond that there is little to be said. All the in- 
fant-school children in this school and, to a less ex- 
tent, those of another school whose results will be 
given later, show little or no power of observation, 
or, at least, of description, when dealing with mixed 
and nondescript colors of this kind. 

Question 48. What color was the carpet? This 
was intended as a suggestive question, implying the 
presence of a carpet. There is no carpet on the 
floor, and if any child answered "There isn't a car- 
pet," the answer was accepted as correct. But it is 
doubtful whether children could be expected not to 
give the color of the floor — a brownish-yellow — as 
the color of the carpet. On this consideration, the 
question was classed also among the color-ques- 
tions. Scarcely any 3- or 4-year-old children in 
either infant school gave an answer which could be 
considered correct as to color. 'Yellow' is one of 
the latest of color-names (I am not speaking now of 
intermediate colors) to develop, and 'brown' is also 
late in development ; we should therefore expect that 
a brownish-yellow would fail of identification and 
description, as, indeed, it appeared to do. 

Question 49. Did you see a carpet? More than 
half of the 6 and 7-year-old children in both infant 
schools resisted the suggestion and said they did 
not see a carpet ; but all the 3-year-old children suc- 
cumbed, and nearly all those of 4 years of age also. 

Question 50. What room was it? To this ques- 
tion there was an unusual number of correct an- 



50 children's perceptions 

swers. At the first interrogation, five of the ten 3- 
year-old children gave correct answers and this 
number increased to 8 at the second interroga- 
tion ; nearly all the 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-year-old children 
in both infant schools gave correct answers and ad- 
hered to them. The almost invariable answer was 
' ' the kitchen ; ' ' but a few children who said ' ' a back 
room" were regarded as having given an answer 
which, on the basis of their experience, might be re- 
garded as correct. 

Self -Correction of Three-Y ear-Old Children. 

Though the procedure for self-correction was 
carefully gone through with every child, no one of 
3 years of age succeeded in getting a single mark 
under this head. 

TABLE I. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Three- Year-Old 
Children, School A. 



-Age 



be 



Name. Yrs. Mths. *■% .'- g 1 £~ g g 

UCO faK few 0C« 

Elsie A 3 5 Grade I* 7 13 12 

Alfred W 3 6 Grade I 8 9 12 

Ivy S 3 6 Grade I 10 15 12 

Albert M 3 7 Grade I 9 14 8 

Rose H 3 7 Grade I 7 11 9 

Clara S 3 8 Grade I 12 16 16 

Robert H 3 8 Grade I 10 17 13 

Ena M 3 10 Grade I 6 12 8 

Harry H 3 10 Grade 1 9 10 10 

Daisy 1 3 11 Grade I 5 15 9 

Average 3 7.8 8.3 13.2 10.9 

Mean variation 1.7 2.2 2.1 
Coefficient of 

variability.... .20 .17 .19 

* Grade I in London is an infants'-school grading, 
mostly of 3-year-old and 4-year-old children. 



O a> 


o 

a> o 


13 





12 





19 





17 





14 





18 





21 





14 





11 





19 





15.8 





3.0 




.18 




It consists 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 51 

Comments on the Results of Table I. 

The first outstanding result is one which was a 
source of considerable surprise to the highly ex- 
perienced teachers to whom I lectured in London on 
this subject in the winter of 1910. Most of the 
teachers were inclined to the opinion that, after a 
week's time, the 3-year-old children would have for- 
gotten all about it, for they had not seen the picture 
again, nor had any references been made to it in 
school in the interval between the first and second 
reports. But, as will be seen from the table, that 
was by no means the case. In all cases, except one, 
the Second Eeport is better than the First Report, 
and in every case except one the Second Interroga- 
tory is better than the First Interrogatory. I at- 
tribute this result, partly to the direct demand 
which the work made on the child's own activities — 
it was not something merely pumped in by the 
teacher — and partly to the questioning which fol- 
lowed the first report. It was also a source of sur- 
prise to the teachers that these children so often 
repeated on the second occasion, in both their spon- 
taneous reports and in their answers to the ques- 
tions, the very words they used on the first occa- 
sion. A little reflection, however, on the poorness 
of the vocabulary of such young children made this 
feature seem reasonable rather than surprising. 
The incapacity for self-correction seemed general. 

II. The Work of the Four- Year-Old Children of 
School A. 
I do not wish unduly to swell this monograph by 
giving illustrations from the work of individual 



52 children's perceptions 

children. The tables and summaries of results for 
the children of different ages and school grades by 
whom the work was done are doubtless of much 
more importance both for knowledge and guidance ; 
but without a living basis in the knowledge of indi- 
vidual cases, such summaries have an aspect of 
vagueness and unreality which teachers dislike, and, 
I think, rightly so. I propose, therefore, before giv- 
ing a summary of the work of the 4-year-old chil- 
dren in this school, to give one complete set of re- 
ports and answers from the work of the pupils in 

this group. Phyllis P , aged 4 years 9 months, 

one of the best of the 4-year-old pupils, gave her 
First Spontaneous Eeport at 3 p. m. on November 
25th, 1909. 

Phyllis P 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"I saw a lady and I saw a man. She had a basin. 
The man was drinking something. The man was 
sitting on a chair. There ivas a basin underneath 
the chair and there was something else against it, 
and there was something in the basin on the table. 
I think it was porridge. There was some flowers] 
behind the lady and they was in a pot, some roots 
growing down and a little flower came up. The pot 
was in a tin saucer. I don't know anything else." 

Marking of Phyllis P 's First Spontaneous 

Report. 

The method of marking this report was, of course, 
similar to that employed in the case of the work of 
the 3-year-old children, since, later on, comparisons 
will be required between the work of children of 
different ages. 



FIKST SEEIES OF EXPEBIMENTS 53 

It is obvious that, by virtue of a mere enumera- 
tion of persons and things, Phyllis P scores 9 

or 10 marks. She enumerates 'lady,' 'man' (it is 
doubtful whether this identification should carry a 
mark), 'basin' (two separate things, one the hemis- 
pherical loaf, the other the jug under the chair), 
'chair,' 'something' (the satchel), 'table,' 'flowers,' 
'pot,' saucer.' 

Two actions are noticed — the man is 'drinking' 
and 'sitting.' There are several positional refer- 
ences : the man is 'on' the chair ; the basin is 'under- 
neath' the chair; something (the satchel) is 
'against' the chair; one of the basins (the hemis- 
pherical bread) is 'on' the table; the flowers are 'be- 
hind' the lady and 'in' a pot; a flower is coming 
'up', and the pot is 'in' a saucer. 

A mark is given for the qualification 'little' at- 
tached to 'flower.' 

If this analysis has been made correctly, Phyllis 
obtains 20 or 21 marks for correct observations. 

For the purpose of easy comparison, I shall now 
present her second report, though it must be re- 
membered that in actuality it followed her first in- 
terrogation and was not given until just one week 
afterwards. It is dated 3 p. m. on December 2nd, 
1909. 

Phyllis P 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"There's a lady, she has a basin with some por- 
ridge in it. And there's a man. The man has a 
saucer with a drop of tea in it. He was sitting on a 
chair. There's a flower with some roses in it. 
There's a jug underneath the man's chair, and 



54 CHILDKEN 's PEECEPTIONS 

there's some water in the jug. There is something 
else on the floor, and it looked like a saucepan. 
There's a table and there was a knife on the table. 
The room had green paper round it, and the door 
was a little wide open. I don't know any more." 

Marking of Phyllis P 's Second Spontaneous 

Report. 

In her second report, Phyllis P enumerates 

'lady,' 'basin' (the hemispherical loaf), 'man,' 
sancer (accepted as an identification of what the 
boy is holding), 'chair,' 'flower' (by which she 
means plant), 'roses,' 'jug,' 'something else' (the 
satchel), 'floor,' 'table,' 'knife,' 'room,' 'paper' and 
'door' (14 or 15 marks). Two things have dropped 
out, the flower-pot and its saucer; four things have 
been added, the room, the paper, the knife and the 
door. The flower-pot, the room, the knife, and the 
door were all mentioned in the first interrogatory, 
but the saucer in which the flower-pot stood was not. 

One action is noticed — the man is ' sitting. ' Again 
the positional references are numerous for a child 
of four years of age The man is 'on' the chair; the 
roses are 'in' the flower (plant) ; the jug is 'under- 
neath' the chair; something else (the satchel) is 'on' 
the floor; the knife is 'on' the table; the room has 
paper 'round' it; and the door is 'open.' 

A mark for 'little wide' is given as a qualification 
of 'open.' A total of 22 or 23 marks is thus ob- 
tained for the second report. 

I will now give the first and second set of answers 
of the same child, each immediately following a re- 
port, and the second exactly a week later than the 
first. 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 55 

Phyllis P 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 

November 25th and December 2nd, Respectively, at 3.5 P. M. 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

1. Which side of the table This side (showed Over there (show- 

was the lady stand- wrongly). ed wrongly). 

ing? 

2. What was she doing? She was holding the She was holding the 

porridge. basin. 

3. How was the lady hold- Like this (showed Like that (showed 

ing what she had in wrongly). wrongly). 

her hand? 

4. Had the lady anything No. Nothing else in her 

else in her hand beside hand. 

the thing you have 
told me about? 

5. What clothes was the A skirt and a A skirt, a blouse, a 

lady wearing? blouse, some brooch, some 

stockings and shoes and stock- 
some shoes and a ings. 
nighty. 

6. What sort of a hat had No hat. No hat. 

she? 

7. What was she wearing Black shoes. Black shoes. 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? Yes. Yes. 

9. Had she a pinafore or An apron. No, she had an 

apron on? apron on. 

10. Had she a frock on? Yes. Yes. 

11. What color was her Red. White. 

blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 

12. What color was her Black. Black. 

skirt? 

13. What color was her She's got a white It was a blue apron. 

apron or pinafore? apron. 

14. What color were her Black. Black. 

boots or shoes? 

15. What color was her hair? Black. Black. 

16. What was the boy do- It's a man. He It's a man. He 

i n g? was drinking was drinking a 

something, a drop drop of tea. 
of tea. 

17. How was he holding (Showed wrongly.) (Showed wrongly.) 

what he had in his 
hand? 

18. Where were the boy's On top of one an- On the floor. 

feet? other (crossed 

her feet on the 
floor) . 



56 



children's perceptions 



10. 

20. 
21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 
25. 

26. 

27. 

28. 

29. 

30. 

31. 

32. 



33. 
34. 

35. 



36. 
37. 

38. 
39. 

40. 



Questions. 

What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 
What color was the boy's 

coat or jacket? 
What color were the 

boy's trousers or knick- 
ers? 
What color were the 

boy's boots or shoes? 
What color were the 

boy's stockings? 
What color was his hair? 
What sort of boots had 

he? 
What sort of shoes had 

he? 
Did you see anything 

under the boy's chair? 
Did you see a jug or 

vase? 
What color was the jug 

or vase? 
Did you see anything on 

the floor near the jug 

or vase? 
What color was the 

table? 
What else was on the 

table beside the thing 

the lady was holding? 
Did you see a knife? 
Whereabouts on the ta- 
ble was it? 
What color was the 

knife? 



First Set of 
Answers. 

The man was dress- 
ed up. 
Black. 

Black. 



Black. 
Black. 

Black. 

They were like 
black. 

He had some slip- 
pers. 

Yes, a pot. 

No, a pot. 

Bed. 

Nothing. 

Black. 

Cups and saucers. 



No. 

There was no knife. 

No knife. 



Did you see a flower- Yes. 

pot? 
Where was it? On a tin saucer, 

and on the floor, 
and on the box. 
What color were the Red. 

flowers? 
How many flowers were One. 

there? 
What color were the Green. 

leaves? 



Second Set of 
Answers. 

The man was dress- 
ed up. 
Black. 

Black. 

Black. 

Black. 

Black. 
Black. 

He had boots. 

Yes, a jug. 

Yes. 

Green. 

Nothing. 

Brown. 
Only a knife. 

Yes. 

(Showed wrongly.) 

The bottom of it 
was yellow and 
the top of it was 
white. 

Yes. 

Standing on the 
floor. 

Red. 

Two. 

Green. 



FIRST SEKIES OF EXPERIMENTS 57 

Fiest Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

41. How many leaves were Two. Two. 

there? 

42. What color was the Bed. Bed. 

flower-pot? 

43. What color was the box? It was a tin saucer. Yellow. 

44. What could you see Nothing. Nothing. 

through the open win- 
dow? 

45. What could you see The door wasn't The door wasn't 

through the open door? open, only the open, only the 
window. window. 

46. Did you see a window? Yes. Yes. 

47. What color were the Green. Green. 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- Black. Black. 

pet? 

49. Did you see a carpet? Yes. Yes. 

50. What room was it? The kitchen room. The kitchen room. 

I suggest that with these questions and an- 
swers before him, the reader turns to the discussion 
on page 23, in which an attempt is made to give a 
satisfactory basis for marking the answers right or 
wrong. Then, on the lines indicated in that discus- 
sion, I ask him, with the picture by his side, to mark 
the answers for himself. 

Phyllis P obviously fails to answer Question 

I, succeeds with Question 2, fails with the second 
positional question, Number 3, successfully resists 
the suggestion in Number 4, omits the apron or 
pinafore in Answer Number 5, again resists sug- 
gestion in Question 6, gives correct answers to 
Numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10, fails to answer correctly as 
to the colors of blouse, skirt and apron (Numbers 

II, 12 and 13), probably guesses the answer to 
Number 14, and is quite wrong about the color of 
the lady's hair (Number 15). In Answer 16, Phyl- 



58 childken's pekceptions 

lis, who lias reported 'man,' will not accept the 
suggestion that it was a 'boy' she saw. She thinks 
the 'man' is drinking tea from a saucer, and this is 
accepted as a legitimate identification of the ob- 
served activity. Answer 17 is wrong, as it almost 
invariably is with children of all ages, as is likewise 
Number 18. Phyllis fails completely with the boy's 
clothes, though she scores a mark for saying his 
shoes were black (Questions 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23). 
She is quite wrong as to the color of his hair (Num- 
ber 24), and fails to resist the suggestion that he 
was wearing boots (Number 25). She receives a 
mark for describing his shoes as slippers in An- 
swer 26 in her first interrogation, but goes back to 
boots the week after. Marks are given for both 
weeks' answers to Questions 27 and 28; it was 
thought that 'pot' was a fair identification of the jar 
under the boy's chair. Answer 29 was wrong the 
first week and right the second week. Answer 30 
fails to obtain a mark. 'Brown' is accepted as cor- 
rect for the color of the table, but 'black' is not 
(Question 31). The answer "cups and saucers," 
given to Question 32, is an error of association, but 
a week later the correct answer is given. Similarly, 
to Question 33, the first answer is wrong, the second 
one right. The positional question, Number 34, is, 
as usual, answered badly. Neither of the answers 
to Question 35 receive a mark ; it was not a yellow- 
handled knife. The first week's answers about the 
knife are interesting as showing a rejection of sug- 
gestion as well as a lack of observation or memory ; 
the second week's answers may have been due to 
mnemonic revival or may have been a delayed re- 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 59 

suit of the suggestive questions given the week be- 
fore, or may have been due to a combination of these 
factors. Questions about the flower and flower-pot 
were well answered, but the numbers of the flowers 
and leaves were wrongly given (Questions 36, 37, 38, 
39, 40, 41, 42). Question 43 was evidently misun- 
derstood on the occasion of the first interrogatory, 
but a satisfactory answer was given the week after. 
The answer to Question 44 appears to be correct; 
nothing could be seen through the open window, for 
there was no window there. In the next answer 
(Number 45), however, the child shows that she has 
not wholly resisted the suggestiveness of this ques- 
tion, for she has accepted the implied presence of 
the window. The answers to Qestions 46, 47, 48 and 
49 receive no marks; the answer to Question 50 is 
obviously correct from the standpoint of an English 
child. 

If this analysis of Phyllis P 's answers be 

correct, it will be found that she obtains 19 marks 
the first week and 23 marks a week later. 

Phyllis P 's Self -Correction. 

The self-correction followed immediately after 
her second interrogation. She said, after she had 
looked at the picture, "I didn't see a tin saucer. I 
did not see any water. The paper was. blue. There 
wasn't any cups and saucers." 

Method of Marking Phyllis P 's Self -Correction. 

In marking the exercises in self-correction, it was 
necessary to see if the statements made were really 
corrections of something wrongly stated before, 
either in answer to the questions or in the reports 



60 children's perceptions 

And if there was an insertion of something left out 
in the reports, it was allowed as a correction, pro- 
vided that the child indicated in some way that she 
was aware that she had left it out. 

If Phyllis P 's self-corrections are marked on 

this basis, she obtains 4 marks for 4 definite correc- 
tions of previous errors. 

It will probably be sufficient to enable the reader 
adequately to conceive the work of these 4-year-old 
children if I now give the general table of results. 

TABLE II. 

SUMMABIZED RESULTS FROM THE WORK OF FoUB-YeAB-OlD 

Children, School A. 






a ej 

to tc 

2 ■«+■> "2 2 



og 



Name. Yrs. Mths. «■§ £ £ *■% « & %~ ~g 

O05 feM feM 02« 05 ij 05O 

Rose D 4 3 Grade lib* 16 22 19 28 

Hetty D 4 6 Grade Ha 10 30 19 28 1 

Frank G 4 8 Grade lib 17 19 19 22 

Rose C 4 9 Grade lib 12 15 12 15 3 

Phyllis P 4 9 Grade 11a 20 19 22 23 4 

William W 4 10 Grade Ha 12 24 22 28 5 

Arthur R 4 11 Grade lib 13 23 14 23 

Arthur B 4 11 Grade lib 14 19 14 20 8 

Henry B 4 11 Grade Ha 18 23 24 31 6 

Charles M 4 11 Grade Ha 19 22 29 24 5 

Average 4 8.9 15.1 21.6 19.4 24.2 3.2 

Mean variation 2.9 2.9 3.8 3.6 2.4 

Coefficient of 

variability.... .19 .13 .19 .15 .8 

*Grade II in London is an infants'-school grading. It consists 
mostly of children who will be five or five and a half at the end of 
the educational year. Ila is the upper and lib is the lower division. 

Comments on Table II. 

Like the 3-year-old children, the children of this 
age do better work in their second report than in 
their first, and in their second interrogatory than 
in their first. I offer the same explanations as be- 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 61 

fore. Self-correction has begun; and, though it is 
working by no means steadily, several of these chil- 
dren achieve a good record. 

III. The Work of the Five- Year-Old Children of 
School A. 

I give one complete set of reports and answers 
from the work of this group. 

George B , aged 5 years 7 months, who was 

somewhat above the average of the 5-year-old chil- 
dren, gave his First Spontaneous Report at 2.30 
p. m. on November 22nd, 1909. 

George B 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"There's a lady with a blue pinafore on, and a 
boy sitting up at the table eating a piece of cake. 
There's a jug underneath the chair. She's got a 
basin in her hand. She's got something in it. She's 
holding it. The knife is on the table; it fell down 
out of her hand. The boy's got red trousers and the 
lady's got a red frock on and brown boots. There's 
a door open. There's a bag down by the side of the 
jug, and there's a flower pot." 

Marking of George B 's First Spontaneous 

Report. 

By the enumeration of persons and things, George 

B scores 16 marks. He enumerates 'lady,' 

'pinafore,' 'boy,' ' table,' 'piece of cake,' 'jug,' 
'chair,' 'basin,' 'hand,' 'knife,' 'trousers,' 'frock,' 
'boots,' 'door,' 'bag' and 'flower-pot.' 

Three actions are mentioned — the boy is * sitting' 
and 'eating,' and the lady is 'holding' something. 

There are several references to positions : the boy 



62 children's perceptions 

is 'up at' the table; the jug is * underneath' the 
chair; the knife is 'on' the table; the door is 'open'; 
and the bag is 'by the side' of the jug. No mark is 
given for 'in' her hand, it is regarded as equivalent 
to 'holding,' which has already been marked. 

A mark is given for the qualification 'red' which 
is rightly applied to trousers; other qualifications 
given, 'red' for frock, and 'brown' for boots, receive 
no marks, since they are incorrect. 

The total of the 'observation' marks for this re- 
port is 25. 

Then followed the interrogatory, which I will give 
later; and, precisely one week afterwards, on No- 
vember 29th, at 2.30 p. m., George B , gave his 

Second Eeport. 

George B 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"There's a lady holding a black basin, and a boy 
sitting up to the table. The boy's holding a piece of 
cake. The knife is on the table. The door is open. 
There's a flower-pot on the stool. There's a jug 
standing underneath the chair, and there's a bag 
down by the chair. The lady's got some cake in the 
basin. She's standing on the floor. She's got a blue 
pinafore and a red frock. The boy's got red trou- 
sers and a jersey on. The boy's got a pair of stock- 
ings on, and the mother's got stockings on as well. 
I can't think of no more." 

Marking of George B 's Second Spontaneous 

Report. 
Marks for enumeration are obtained for 'lady,' 
'basin,' 'boy,' 'table,' 'piece of cake,' 'knife,' 'door,' 
'flowerpot,' 'stool,' 'jug,' 'chair, 'bag,' 'floor,' 'pina- 



FIEST SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 63 

fore,' ' frock,' trousers,' 'jersey' and 'pair of stock- 
ings,' making a total of 18, an improvement of two 
over the enumerative marks of the preceding week. 

Four actions are noted: the lady is 'holding' and 
'standing,' the boy is 'sitting' and 'holding.' 

The positional references are more numerous 
than before. The boy is sitting 'up to' the table ; the 
door is 'open,' the knife is 'on' the table; the flower- 
pot is 'on' the stool; the jug is 'underneath' the 
chair; the bag is 'down by' the chair; the lady is 
standing ' on ' the floor. It is not considered worth a 
positional mark to say, for example, that the trou- 
sers are on the boy ; though it would have been had 
the trousers, for example, been 'in' his hands or 
'round' his neck, had these statements been correct. 

There are also two accurate qualifications. The 
basin is 'black'; the boy's trousers are 'red.' The 
other qualifications given are inaccurate. 

George B 's marks for his second report 

amount to 31, an improvement of six marks over 
those of the week preceding. 

George B 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 

November 22nd and November 29th, Respectively, 
at 2.35 P. M. 

First Set op Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

1. Which side of the table That side (showed That side where the 

was the lady stand- wrongly). flower-pot was 

ing? (showed right- 

ly). 

2. What was she doing? Cutting some cake. Holding a basin. 

3. How was the lady hold- With her two hands With her two hands 

ing what she had in (showed wrong- (showed wrong- 
her hands? - ly). ly). 

4. Had the lady anything No. No. 

else in her hand be- 
side the thing you 
have told me about? 



64 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



Questions. 

5. What clothes was the 

lady wearing? 

6. What sort of a hat had 

she? 

7. What was she wearing 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? 

9. Had she a pinafore or 

apron on? 

10. Had she a frock on? 

11. What color was her 

blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 

12. What color was her 

skirt? 

13. What color was her 

apron or pinafore? 

14. What color were her 

boots or shoes? 

15. What color was her hair? 

16. What was the boy do- 

ing? 

17. How was he holding it? 



18. Where were the boy's 

feet? 

19. What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 



20. What color was the boy's 

jersey? 

21. What color were the 

boy's trousers? 

22. What color were the 

boy's shoes? 

23. What color were the 

boy's stockings? 

24. What color was his hair? 

25. What sort of boots had 

he? 

26. What sort of shoes had 

he? 



First Set of 

Answers. 



Second Set of 
Answees. 



A blue pinafore and A blue pinafore and 

red frock. a red frock. 

A little one. A whitish color. 



Boots. 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Yes. 
Red. 



Red. 



Bkie. 



Boots. 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Yes. 
Red. 



Red. 
Blue. 



Brown leather 


Brownish color. 


color. 




White. 


Whitish color. 


Sitting on a chair 


Sitting on a chair 


holding a piece of 


holding a piece of 


cake. 


cake. 


(Showed wrongly.) 


With his finger and 




thumb (showed 




rightly). 


Underneath the ta- 


Underneath the ta- 


ble. 


ble. 


Red trousers, a jer- 


He put his trousers 


sey, brown stock- 


on first. (What 


ings and shoes. 


was he wearing?) 




A jersey and a 




pair of red trous- 




ers. I can't think 




of any more. 


Brown. 


Black. 


Red. 


Red. 


Brown. 


Brown. 


Black. 


Black. 


Brown. 


Brown. 


He had shoes. 


Brownish color. 


Brown. 


He had boots. 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 



65 







First Set of 


Second Set of 




Questions. 


Answers. 


Answers. 


27. 


Did you see anything 
under the boy's chair? 


Yes, a jug. 


Yes, a jug. 


28. 


Did you see a jug? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


29. 


What color was it? 


A green jug. 


A blue jug. 


30. 


Did you see anything on 
the floor near the jug, 
and if you did, what 
was it? 


A bag. 


A school-bag. 


31 


What color was the ta- 


Brown. 


The tablecloth was 




ble? 




brown. 


32. 


What else was on the 
table beside what the 
lady was holding? 


The knife. 


The knife. 


33. 


Did you see a knife? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


34. 


Whereabouts on the ta- 
ble was it? 


(Showed rightly.) 


(Showed rightly.) 


35. 


What color was the 


The handle was 


The handle ivas 




knife? 


brown; the other 


brown, and the 






part was white. 


piece that you cut 
with was white. 


36. 


Did you see a flower- 
pot? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


37. 


Where was it? 


On a piece of the 
high cupboard. 


On a stool. 


38. 


What color were the 
flowers ? 


Red. 


Red. 


39. 


How many flowers were 
there? 


Three. 


Three. 


40. 


What color were the 
leaves? 


Green. 


Green. 


41. 


How many leaves were 
there? 


Three. 


Three. 


42. 


What color was the 
flower-pot ? 


Brown. 


A reddish color. 


43. 


What color was the cup- 


It was a yellow 


It was a white 




board? 


cupboard. 


stool. 


44. 


What could you see 
through the open win- 
dow? 


Some leaves. 


Some 'buses. 


45. 


What could you see 
through the open door? 


The street. 


The street. 


46. 


Did you see a window? 


No. 


No. 


47. 


What color were the 
walls of the room? 


Green. 


Green. 


48. 


What color was the car- 


Brown. 


Green. 




pet? 






49. 


Did you see a carpet? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


50. 


What room was it? 


A little room. 


The kitchen. 



66 children's perceptions 

Marking of George B 's First and Second Sets 

of Answers. 

George B fails to answer Question 1 the first 

time, but succeeds the week afterwards; succeeds 
on the second occasion with Question 2, fails as 
usual with Question 3, successfully resists the sug- 
gestion made in Question 4, includes both pinafore 
and frock in Question 5 (the errors in color are not 
counted for this question, they appear again later 
on) ; fails to resist the suggestion that the lady was 
wearing a hat, gives correct answers to Numbers 7, 
8, 9, 10, fails to name correctly the colors of blouse, 
skirt and apron, guesses wrongly as to the color of 
the lady's boots or shoes, and is quite wrong as to 
the color of the lady's hair. In Answer 16, George 
is correct on both occasions; and in Answer 17, 
though wrong the first week, is right the second 
week, a sequence which happened with his first posi- 
tional question (Number 1). He fails to answer 
Question 18 about the position of the boy's feet, 
though he rightly answered the more difficult posi- 
tional question, Number 17. Question 19, about the 
boy's clothes, is answered correctly; but the color 
questions following are badly answered, with the 
exception of the one about the boy's trousers; the 
'red trousers' appear in all George's reports and 
answers. 'Brown' is accepted for the color of the 
boy's hair (Question 24), and the suggestion in 
Question 25 is resisted the first week, but succumbed 
to a week afterwards. "He had shoes," said George 
stoutly, the first week, but equally stoutly, a week 
later says, "He had boots." Questions 27, 28, 29, 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 67 

30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 were all answered well, 
though the green jug fades to blue the second week 
and is then wrongly colored. The questions about 
the flowers and leaves were well answered, though 
the leaves were not numbered rightly, as indeed 
might well be expected. 'Yellow cupboard' is ac- 
cepted for the answer to Question 43, but 'white 
stool' is not. George accepts the suggestion that 
things can be seen through a non-existent window 
and also through the open door, though he states in 
Answer 46 that he did not see a window. Answer 47 
is wrong. The suggestion about the carpet is not 
resisted (Questions 48 and 49). 'Little room' is ac- 
cepted as a correct answer to question 50, though the 
more usual answer 'kitchen' is given a week later. 

George B is one of the very few cases among 

young children who scores less marks for his second 
set of answers than for his first set ; he scores 30 the 
first week and 29 the week after. He improved in 
two positional questions, but moved backward in 
three color-questions, and failed the second week to 
resist the suggestion that the boy was wearing 
boots, though he successfully resisted it the week 
previous. His work is fairly average work for 5- 
year-old children when considered as a totality of 
marks for reports and answers, but it is exceptional 
in falling off a little the second week ; and is also ex- 
ceptionally accurate in the positional answer about 
the precise way the boy was holding the cake. 

George B 's Self Corrections. 

"The boy's jacket was green; I said it ivas black. 
There's a door. I didn't see a window. The lady's 



68 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



apron was red and her blouse was blue and so was 
her skirt. Here's a bag. There's a lot of green 
leaves." 

Marking of George B 's Self -Corrections. 

George corrects his erroneous assertion about the 
color of the boy's jacket. "I didn't see a window" 
of course received a mark, and he obtained three 
more marks for his correction of the colors of the 
lady's apron, blouse and skirt. Though he was ob- 
viously aware that he had given the number of the 
leaves wrongly, a 'lot' was not held to be definite 
enough for self-correction. 

Thus George's total score for self-correction is 5 
marks. 

TABLE III. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Five- Year-Old Children, 

School A. 



■off 



Name. Yrs. Mths. 

Beatrice F 5 6 

George A 5 7 

Florence T 5 7 

George B 5 7 

Alice J 5 7 

Gertrude N...... 5 8 

Edward M 5 8 

George P 5 10 

Thomas P 5 11 

Barbara H 5 11 

Average 5 8.2 

Mean variation 
Coefficient of 
variability 





*S 




£& 


- — 


S3 n 


X o 




£3 






o © 


OK2 


fa£n 


0OC3 


k£ 


02 U 


Grade Ilia 


22 


31 


33 


31 


7 


Grade Ilia 


20 


31 


28 


34 


4 


Grade 111b 


40 


34 


45 


42 


4 


Grade Illb 


25 


30 


31 


29 


5 


Grade Illb 


21 


23 


23 


29 


3 


Grade Ilia 


34 


20 


35 


20 


9 


Grade Ilia 


20 


22 


23 


24 


3 


Grade Illb 


11 


22 


30 


25 


1 


Grade Illb 


38 


25 


46 


25 


3 


Grade Ilia 


22 


24 


25 


26 


& 




25.3 


26.2 


31.9 


28.5 


4.4 




7.3 


4.4 


6.2 


4.5 


1.7 



.29 



.17 



.19 



.16 



.39 



*Grade III is an infant-school grading; it consists almost exclu- 
sively of children who will be 6 or somewhat older by the end of the 
educational year. Ilia is the upper division, Illb is the lower. 



FIKST SEKIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 69 

Comments on Table III. 
A great advance is to be noticed in the sponta- 
neous reports of children of this age, and a steady 
advance, though much smaller, in their power to an- 
swer questions on what they have seen. As in pre- 
vious years, the second report is better than the first 
and the second interrogatory is better than the first. 
Every 5-year-old child is capable of some self-cor- 
rections and several of them make a considerable 
number. I have, I think, previously suggested that 
there is no better means than self-correction of this 
kind for forcing into prominence the difference be- 
tween 'reality' and 'fiction,' though by 'fiction' here 
I do not mean merely consciously imagined ideas. 

IV. The Work of the Six- Year-Old Children of 
School A. 
Following the procedure- previously adopted, I in- 
sert one complete set of reports and answers from 
the work of these 6-year-old children before giving a 
general table of results for children of this age. On 
this occasion I shall choose the work of a girl who 
was one of the oldest and also one of the best of this 

group. Annie D , aged 6 years 11 months, gave 

her first report on Thursday, October 14th, at 
2.15 p. m. 

Annie D 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"I could see a little boy sitting on a chair, and his 
mother gave him a piece of bread. The mother had 
a basin in her hand, and she had a blue apron on. 
On the floor there ivas a cushion and a jar, and there 
was a flower-pot with some flowers in it on a box 
and there was a door. This door was open a little 



70 children's perceptions 

bit. There was some oilcloth on the floor. There 
ivas a white ceiling. It was brown bread the little 
boy was eating. It was yellow oilcloth on the floor. 
There ivere four legs to the table. The mother was 
standing. There was a lamp and it ivas in the day- 
time. The mother had her hair rolled round at the 
back." 

Marking of Annie D 's First Report. 

Annie correctly enumerates 17 persons and 
things: 'boy,' 'chair,' 'mother,' 'piece of bread,' 
'basin,' 'hand,' 'apron,' 'floor' 'cushion,' 'jar,' 
'flower-pot,' 'flowers,' 'box,' 'door,' 'legs,' 'table' 
and 'hair.' She mentions three activities : the boy is 
'sitting' and 'eating,' the mother is 'standing.' 
There are a number of references to positions : the 
boy is 'on' the chair; the basin is 'in' the mother's 
hand; the cushion and jar are 'on' the floor; the 
flower is 'in' the flower-pot; the flower-pot is 'on' a 
box; the yellow (oilcloth) was 'on' the floor; and 
the mother's hair was rolled round 'at the back:' a 
total of seven positional references. And there are 
several adjectival and one or two adverbial qualifi- 
cations: the door is 'open' and, moreover, it is a 
'little bit' open; the boy's bread is 'brown,' and the 
color on the floor is 'yellow'; the table has 'four' 
legs; and, a remarkable observation for a child of 
this age, the mother's hair is 'rolled round' at the 
back; a total of 6 descriptive qualifications. Annie 
therefore scores 33 marks for her first report, which 
is a very high mark for a child 6 years old. 

Then followed the first interrogatory, but, for con- 
venience of comparison, I shall insert here the sec- 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 71 

ond report given a week later, on Thursday, Oct. 
21st, at 2.15 p. m. 

Annie D 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"I saw a flower-pot with some flowers in it. It 
teas standing on a box, and there was a white table- 
cloth on the table; and I saiv a little boy and his 
mother was giving him a piece of bread. The 
mother had a plait at the front of her head. The 
door was open a little bit. The little boy had black 
hair, and his mother had black hair, and she had a 
blue apron on. The little boy had some black shoes 
on, and he had black stockings. He had short hair 
and was just going to eat a piece of bread. He was 
sitting on a chair. There was a cushion on the floor 
and a jar. The door was brown. The mother was 
standing the right side, and the little boy was sitting 
the left side. The walls were blue." 

Marking of Annie D 's Second Report. 

There are 21 correct enumerations of persons and 
things: 'flower-pot,' 'flowers,' 'box,' 'table,' 'boy,' 
'mother,' 'piece of bread,' 'head,' 'door,' 'hair' (the 
mother's and the boy's), 'basin,' 'hand,' 'apron,' 
'shoes,' 'stockings,' 'chair,' 'cushion,' 'floor,' 'jar' 
and 'walls.' 

The activities correctly mentioned are the same 
as before: the mother is 'standing'; the boy is 'sit- 
ting,' and (a slight improvement) is 'just going to 
eat' 

The positional references are the same in number 
as before : the flowers are 'in' the flower-pot, the pot 
is 'on' a box; the basin is 'in' the lady's hand; the 
boy was sitting 'on' a chair; a cushion and a jar 



72 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



were 'on' the floor; the mother was 'on the right 
side, ' and the boy was ' on the left side. ' This gives 
a total of seven marks for position. 

The qualitatively adjectival and adverbial modi- 
fications correctly used are as follows: the door is 
'open,' 'a little bit;' the boy's shoes are 'black,' and 
his hair is 'short;' the door is 'brown;' and the 
walls are 'blue.' In this, as in the first report, there 
is a reference to the woman's hair ; this time it is in- 
correct. 

For the second report as a whole, Annie D 

scores 37 marks, an improvement of 4 marks on the 
work of the week previous. 



Annie D 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 

October 14th and October 21st at 2.20 P. M. 



Questions. 

1. Which side of the table 

was the lady stand- 
ing? 

2. What was she doing? 



How was the lady hold- 
ing what she had in 
her hand? 

Had the lady anything 
else in her hand be- 
side the thing you 
have told me about? 

What clothes was the 
lady wearing? 



6. What sort of a hat had 

she? 

7. What was she wearing 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? 

9. Had she a pinafore or 

apron on? 



First Set of 
Answers. 

The right side. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 

The right side. 



Giving the boy Giving the little 
some oread. boy a piece of 

bread. 
( Showed wrongly. ) (Showed wrongly. ) 



No. 



No. 



She had a blouse She had a blouse 

and a blue apron and a blue apron 

and she had a and she had a 

shirt on. skirt on. 

She had no hat. She had no hat. 



Blacl 


• boots. 


They were 
boots. 


black 


Yes. 




Yes. 




Yes. 




Yes. 





FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 



73 





First Set of 


Second Set of 




Questions. Answebs. 


Answebs. 


10 


. Had she a frock on? Yes. 


Yes. 


11 


. What color was her Blue. 
blouse? 


Blue. 


12. 


What was the color of Black. 
her skirt? 


Blue. 


13. 


, What color was her Blue. 
apron? 


Blue. 


14. 


What color were her Black. 
boots or shoes? 


Black. 


15. 


What color was the Black. 
lady's hair? 


Black. 


16. 


What was the boy do- Eating some oread. 


Eating a piece of 




ing? 


bread. 


17. 


How was he holding it? He was holding it 


He was holding it 




sideways ( show- 


sideways (show- 




ed wrongly). 


ed wrongly). 


18. 


Where were the boy's On the floor. 

feet? 


On the floor. 


19. 


What clothes was the He had a blouse 


He had a blouse 




boy wearing? and some trous- 


and some trous- 




ers, some boots 


ers, some shoes 




and some stock- 


and some stock- 




ings. 


ings. 


20. 


What color was the Black. 
boy's blouse? 


Black. 


21. 


What color were the Black. 
boy's trousers? 


Black. 


22. 


What color were the Black. 
boy's boots or shoes? 


Black. 


23. 


What color were his Black. 
stockings ? 


Black. 


24. 


What color was his hair? Black hair. 


Black hair. 


25. 


What sort of boots had Black boots. 
he? 


Black boots. 


26. 


What sort of shoes had He had boots. 
he? 


He had boots. 


27. 


Did you see anything No. 
under the boy's chair? 


No. 


28. 


Did you see a jug? Yes. 


Yes. 


29. 


What color was it? Green. 


Green. 


30. 


Did you see anything on Yes, a cushion. 
the floor near the jug, 
and, if you did, what 
was it? 


Yes, a cushion. 


31. 


What color was the ta- White. 


White. 




ble? 





74 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



Questions. 



Fiest Set of 
Answees. 



32. 



33. 
34. 

35. 



What else was on the Sugar 
table beside what the 
lady was holding? 

Did you see a knife? 

Whereabouts on the ta- 
ble was it? 

What color was the 
knife? 



Second Set of 
Answebs. 

A knife. 



36. Did you see a flower- 

pot? 

37. Where was it? 

38. What color were the 

flowers? 

39. How many flowers were 

there? 

40. What color were the 

leaves? 

41. How many leaves were 

there? 

42. What color was the 

flower-pot? 

43. What color was the box? 

44. What could you see 

through the open win- 
dow? 

45. What could you see 

through the open door? 

46. Did you see a window? 

47. What color were the 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- 

pet? 

49. Did you see a carpet? 

50. What room was it? 



Yes. Yes. 

Left side (showed Left side (showed 

wrongly ) . wrongly ) . 

The handle was The handle was 

black and the black and the 

cut part was cut part was 

brass. brass. 

Yes. Yes. 



On a box. 
Red. 


On a box. 
Red. 


Three. 


Four. 


Green. 


Green. 


Six. 


Five. 


Bed. 


Red. 


Yellow. 
The street. 


Yellow. 
The street. 


The street. 


The street. 


No. 

White. 


No, a door. 
Red, I mean blue. 



The oilcloth was Blue oilcloth. 

yellow. 
No. No. 

The kitchen. The kitchen. 



Marking of Annie D 's First and Second Set of 

Answers. 

Annie D starts off well with her first 11 an- 



swers nearly all correct, except to Positional Ques- 
tion 3. The color of the lady's skirt is given 
wrongly the first week, but correctly the week after, 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 75 

and the answer to Question 14 might very well be a 
guess. The position question (Number 17) is an- 
swered wrongly, as usual; and the position of the 
boy's feet (Number 18) had evidently not been no- 
ticed. Her knowledge of the colors of the boy's gar- 
ments is obviously very small, and the suggestion 
that he was wearing boots readily accepted. The 
jug had evidently been seen, but not accurately 
placed (Questions 27, 28, 29). The first answer 
given to Question 32 shows an error due to associa- 
tion, which is corrected the week after ; a correction 
which may be due partly to the influence of Question 
33, though it is fairly certain that the knife had 
been seen and remembered. The Number Questions 
(39 and 41) are, as usual, badly answered; whilst it 
is interesting to see that, though the implication of a 
window is accepted in Answer 44, in the less sug- 
gestive form of Question 46, the existence of the 
window is negatived. The answers to Questions 48 
and 49 are accepted as negativing the suggestion of 
a carpet and, on the first occasion, as giving cor- 
rectly the color of the floor. 

The total number of correct observations in the 
first interrogatory is 31, and in the second is 32. It 
is interesting to note which of the answers, wrong 
the first week, are right the second week, and vice 
versa. 

Annie D 's Self -Corrections. 

These, as already explained, followed imme- 
diately after the second interrogatory. After look- 
ing at the picture, she said : 

"The little hoy had a green coat, and he had red 



76 children's perceptions 

trousers, and green stockings; and the mother had 
a red apron, and the jar was green; and there were 
two irons on the cushion and they were black. 
There ivere eight green leaves on the plant and five 
red flowers, and the mould was black. The little boy 
had his feet on the strip of the chair. The oilcloth 
was yellow. The box was yellow, and I could only 
see half of it. The bread was brown bread. The 
mother had a little bit of yellow hair and a little bit 
of black hair, and the little boy had brown hair. The 
jar had a handle. The mother was looking down." 

Marking of Annie D 's Self -Correction. 

Annie seems well aware that her answers to ques- 
tions about color and number had often been incor- 
rect, for she set to work to correct some of them, 
though not always successfully. 'Green' for the 
coat, 'red' for the trousers, 'red' for the apron are 
really corrections of previous errors; but she had 
already said that the jar was green. The reference 
to the two black irons on the 'cushion' was not a cor- 
rection ; and, as there was no indication that she was 
aware that she had omitted any mention of them 
before, they were not marked as corrections. The 
attempted corrections of the number of leaves 
and flowers were wrong. The position of the boy's 
feet is now correctly given, but she had already said 
that the oilcloth was yellow and that the box was 
yellow. "I could only see half of the box" was ac- 
cepted as a correction. "The bread was brown 
bread" was not an amplification, so no mark was 
given for 'brown.' The corrections as to the color 
of the boy's hair and the mother's hair are accept- 



FIRST SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 77 

able; but as we did not know whether the 'handle' of 
the jar and the mother 'looking down' were not 
rather part of a fresh report than a correction of 
the old reports and answers, no marks were allowed 
for them. Annie's indubitable corrections are 7 in 
number. 

TABLE IV. 

Stjmmabized Results fbom the Woek of Six-Yeab-Old Children, 

School A. 



-M -WO 

a» w> fcxi -jh 

A ee , ""** +* g'O-w'Og "S 

seS +» S 4* B gg g £ S 

»« So. ?,?> ±£ 



Name. Yrs. Mths. Jj-g £ 8 1 £•£ S * S£ ^ o 

U02 SSS few KC3 G0>3 OQU 

Charles G 6 3 Standard lb 23 27 26 29 7 

Gertrude D 6 3 Standard la 39 39 41 39 7 

William B 6 3 Standard lb 31 38 37 38 7 

Henrv S 6 4 Standard la 42 29 51 29 7 

George G 6 6 Standard lb 25 31 32 31 6 

Benjamin E 6 7 Standard la 22 25 37 27 5 

Rose C 6 7 Standard la 18 27 19 35 8 

Violet A 6 9 Standard lb 30 23 24 24 5 

Annie D 6 11 Standard lb 33 31 37 32 7 

Ellen C 6 11 Standard la 24 26 55 31 12 

Average 6 6.4 28.7 29.6 35.9 31.5 7.1 

Mean variation 6.3 4.6 8.5 4.0 1.2 
Coefficient of 

variability.... .22 .12 .24 .12 .17 

* Standard I is the highest grade in an infants' school ; it is really 

the commencement of the senior-school grading. la is the upper and 
lb is the lower division. 



Comments on Table IV. 

There is a steady advance in all respects on the 
work of the preceding year. Again the second re- 
port is better than the first and the second interrog- 
atory is better than the first. Every 6-year-old child 
is capable of considerable self-correction; it is a 
function, or group of functions, which now works 
steadily. 



78 children's perceptions 

V. The Work of the Seven- Year-Old Children of 
School A. 
I give below one complete set of reports and an- 
swers from the work of the 7-year-old children. 

Olive H , aged 7 years 2 months, gave her first 

report on Thursday, April 14th, at 10.10 a. m. 

Olive H 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"I can see a lady with a Christmas pudding, and 
there is a jug underneath the chair. The lady has a 
blue skirt and a blue blouse and a red apron. The 
little boy has a green coat and blue trousers. There 
is a table with a pot ivith flowers in it. The flowers 
are red and the leaves are green. It is standing on 
it. The door is open. The pudding is on the table. 
She is holding it and resting it on the table. There 
is a knife on the table." 

Marking of Olive H 's First Report. 

There are 18 correct enumerations of persons and 
things: 'lady,' * Christmas pudding,' 'little boy,' 
'chair,' 'piece' (of pudding), 'jug,' 'skirt,' 'blouse,' 
'apron,' 'coat,' 'trousers,' 'pot,' 'flower' (meaning 
the plant), 'flowers,' 'leaves,' 'door,' 'table,' 'knife.' 
The ' table ' with the pot on it is the box on the right- 
hand side ; ' table ' was not accepted as a satisfactory 
identification. 

The boy is 'sitting' and 'eating;' the lady is 'hold- 
ing' the pudding and 'resting' it on the table: a total 
of four references to action. 

The positional references are 6 in number. The 
boy is 'in' the chair, and the jug is 'underneath' the 
chair; the flowers are 'in' the pot, the pot is stand- 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 79 

ing 'on' it (the table, wrongly identified) ; the door 
is 'open'; the pudding is 'on' the table. 

There are several correct qualifications. The 
lady's skirt is 'blue,' her blouse is 'blue,' her apron 
is red;' the boy's coat is 'green;' the flowers are 
'red' and the leaves are 'green:' a total of six marks 
for correct qualifications. 

Olive H thus receives a total of 34 marks for 

her first report. 

Then followed the first interrogatory, and, ex- 
actly a week later, on April 21st, at 10.10 a. m., Olive 
gave her second report. 

Olive H 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"I could see a lady in a blue shirt and a blue 
blouse, and she had a Christmas pudding on the 
table and she was resting her hand on it. There was 
a knife on the table and the little boy had a slice of 
the pudding. He had a green coat and a pair of 
trousers. The lady had ginger-colored hair. There 
was a jug under the boy's chair. It had a yellow top 
to it and he was resting his feet on the rail. He had 
brown shoes. He was looking at the piece of pud- 1 
ding. The little boy had ginger hair. There was a 
pot with some red floivers in it and it had some green 
leaves on it. The door was open. There was a little 
box what you put coals in down by the side of the 
boy's chair. The lady was at one side of the table 
and the little boy at the other. The knife had a yel- 
low handle; it ivas near the corner of the table. The 
jug had a yellow handle and there were two little 
pieces of wood sticking out at the back of the thing 
what you put the coals in." 



80 CHILDRESS PERCEPTIONS 

Marking of Olive E 's Second Report. 

This is an excellent report for a child of 7 years 
of age. It is quite obviously fuller and more minute 
than the report of the preceding week. There are 
28 correct enumerations of persons, things, and 
parts of things. Marks are obtained for 'lady, 7 
'skirt,' 'blouse,' 'Christmas pudding,' 'table,' 
'hand,' 'knife,' 'boy,' 'slice,' 'coat,' 'pair of trou- 
sers,' 'hair' (of the lady), 'jug,' 'chair,' 'top' (of 
the chair), 'feet,' 'rail (of the chair), 'shoes,' 'hair' 
(of the boy), 'pot,' 'flower,' 'leaves,' 'door,' 'box,' 
'handle' (of the knife), 'corner' (of the table), 
'handle' (of the jug), and 'pieces of wood' (straps 
of the satchel). 

There are 14 positional references. The pudding 
is 'on' the table and the lady's hand is 'on' the pud- 
ding; the knife is 'on' the table and 'near' the cor- 
ner; the jug is 'under' the chair; the boy's feet are 
'on' the rail; the pot has flowers 'in' it and green 
leaves 'on' it (the flower) ; the box is 'down by the 
side of the chair; the door is 'open'; the lady is 
'one side of the table, the little boy is 'at the other;' 
the pieces of wood were 'at the back' (of the 
satchel), and they were 'sticking out.' 

The attributive qualifications correctly mentioned 
are also numerous. The lady's skirt is 'blue' and 
her blouse is 'blue;' the boy's coat is green; the 
lady's hair is 'ginger' colored and the boy's is 
'ginger;' the flowers are 'red;' the leaves are 
'green;' the box is 'little;' the pieces of wood 
(straps) are 'two' in number and they are 'little' 
pieces. This makes a total of 10 qualifications. 



FIKST SEEIES OF EXPEKIMENTS 



81 



The actions mentioned are less in number than 
usual; the boy is ' looking at' the piece of pudding; 
the lady is 'resting her hand on' the pudding, and 
it is doubtful whether the second is not rather a 
statement of position than of action. 

Olive H achieves the high total of 56 marks 

for her second report, an improvement of 22 marks 
on the work of the previous week. 



Olive H- 



— 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 
April 14th and April 22nd at 10.10 A. M. 



Questions. 

1. Which side of the table 

was the lady stand- 
ing? 

2. What was she doing? 



3. How was the lady hold- 

ing what she had in 
her hand? 

4. Had the lady anything 

else in her hand beside 
what you have told me 
about? 

5. What clothes was the 

lady wearing? 

6. What sort of a hat had 

she? 

7. What was she wearing 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? 

9. Had she a pinafore or 

apron on? 
10. Had she a frock on? 



First Set of 
Answers. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 



This side (showed 
rightly). 



At the corner 
( showed right- 
ly). 

I think she was Besting her hand 
cutting her own- on the pudding, 
self a hit of pud- 
ding. 

Like that (showed Like that (showed 
nearly rightly). nearly rightly). 



11. What color was her 

blouse ? 

12. What was the color of Blue. 

her skirt? 

13. What color was her Red. 

apron? 



No, she was only 

holding the 

Christmas pud- 
ding. 
A red apron, a blue 

blouse and skirt. 
She hadn't got a 

hat. 
I had not looked at 

them. 
I don't know. 
An apron she had 

on. 
No, she had a blouse 

and skirt on. 
Blue. 



No, she was only 
holding the 
Christmas pud- 



A red apron, a blue 
blouse and skirt. 

She hadn't got a 
hat. 

Brown boots, I 
think. 

I think I could see. 

No, an apron. 

No, she had a blouse 

and skirt on. 
Blue. 

Blue. 

I think it was blue*. 



82 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



Questions. 



First Set of 
Answers. 



14. What color were her / don't know 

boots or shoes? 

15. What color was the Ginger. 

lady's hair? 

16. What was the boy do- 

ing? 



Second Set of 

Answers. 

Brown, I think. 



17. How was he holding it? 

18. 

19. 



Where were the boy's 

feet? 
What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 



20. 
21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 

25. 

26. 

27. 

28. 
29. 

30. 



He was eating a 
piece of Christ- 
mas puddling. 

Like that {showed 
nearly rightly ) . 

Leaning on the rail 
of the chair. 

Re had a green 
coat and a blue 
pair of trousers. 
He was smiling. 

Green. 

Blue. 



What color was his coat? 
What color were his 

trousers ? 
What color were the Brown shoes. 

boy's boots or shoes? 
What color were his Black. 

stockings ? 
What color was his hair? 



had 



Ginger, like the 

lady's. 
He had shoes. 



What sort of boots 

he? 
What sort of shoes had Brown shoes 

he? 
Did you see anything Yes, a jug. 

under the boy's chair? 
Did you see a jug? 
What color was it? 



Ginger. 

He was eating a 
piece of Christ- 
mas pudding. 

Like that (showed 
nearly rightly). 

Besting on the rail 
of the chair. 

He had a green 
coat and a blue 
pair of trousers. 
He was smiling. 

Green. 

Blue. 

Brown shoes. 

Brown. 

Red. 

He had shoes. 

Brown shoes. 

Yes, a jug. 



Yes. Yes. 

It had a red rim Yellow, and a blue 
and a yellow bot- rim nearly at the 



31. 
32. 

33. 



Did you see anything on 
the floor near the jug? 



What color was the ta- 
ble? 

What was on the table 
beside what the lady 
was holding? 

Did you see a knife? 



torn to it. 



top. 



A red thing with A little box where 

two sticks at the you put coals. 

back. I don't 

know what it 

was. It might 

have been a box 

to put coals in. 
A yellow color. 



Only a knife. 



Yes. 



A yellow color. 
Only a knife. 



Yes. 



FIEST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 83 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

34. Whereabouts on the ta- The knife was lay- The knife was at 

ble was it? ing here, beside the side of the 
the lady where lady. I think it 
she was stand- was the right- 
ing (showed hand side (show- 
rightly), ed rightly). 

35. What color was the It was a lead knife, The handle was 

knife? grey. yellow and the 

other part looked 
as if it was made 
of grey stuff. 

36. Did you see a flower- Yes. Yes. 

pot? 

37. Where was it? Standing on a box. Standing on a box. 

38. What color were the Bed. Red. 

flowers? 

39. How many flowers were Two. Three. 

there? 

40. What color were the Green. Green. 

leaves? 

41. How many leaves were / don't know. I didn't count 

there ? them. 

42. What color was the Red. Red. 

flower-pot ? 

43. What color was the box? Yellow. Yellow. 

44. What could you see It wasn't a win- It wasn't a win- 

through the open win- dow. dow. 

dow? 

45. What could you see A bit of the gar- A bit of the gar- 

through the open door? den. den. 

46. Did you see a window? No. No. 

47. What color were the Yellow. Yellow. 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- / think that was It didn't have a 

pet? yellow. carpet. 

49. Did you see a carpet? The floor was yel- No, it didn't have 

low. No, it a carpet. 

didn't have a 

carpet. 

50. What room was it? I think it was a I think it was a 

dining-room. dining-room. 

Marking of Olive H 's First and Second Sets of 

Answers. 

The questions are excellently answered. Olive 
H is one of the best of the children of this group 



84 children's perceptions 

in the interrogatory work. One of the children is 
decidedly better, and three of them are approxi- 
mately equal to Olive. One or two notes with refer- 
ence to her answers may be found serviceable. She 
fails on both occasions in the position question 
(Number 3) ; she does not exactly know how the lady 
was holding the loaf; but she is very nearly right. 
She resists suggestion extremely well, as witness 
her decided answers to Questions 4 and 6. In an- 
swer to Questions 7 and 8, she scores marks the sec- 
ond week, but fails the first week; her failure is, 
however, nearly, if not quite, as satisfactory as her 
success. It is interesting to note that, in the course 
of the week's interval, she has temporarily for- 
gotten the color of the lady's apron (Question 13), 
but only temporarily, one would suppose, for a min- 
ute or so before she has said it was red (Answer 5). 
The position question 17, like Question 3, is an- 
swered wrongly, but again, most unusually, the an- 
swer is nearly right. The position of the boy's feet 
has been correctly observed and remembered, but 
the colors of his trousers and shoes and stockings 
are invariably given wrongly. Suggestion is re- 
sisted as before in Answer 25 ; and the jug is gratu- 
itously provided with a colored rim, 'red' the first 
week and 'blue' the second. It was necessary to 
mark the answer about the knife as correct. I have 
explained, when discussing the marking of the an- 
swers, that this question was badly framed, and this 
child does seem to have noticed the appearance of 
the blade, though she is wrong, the second week, as 
to the handle. She knows she does not know how 
many leaves there were on the plant (Question 41) ; 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 85 

and resists the implication of the window in Ques- 
tion 44. Dining-room is accepted as a satisfactory 
answer to the last question. 

Olive H thus receives 37 marks for her first 

interrogatory and 39 for her second. 

After the second interrogatory, the child was 
again allowed to see the picture and to correct any- 
thing which she had given wrongly, as has already 
been explained. 

Olive H~ 's Self-Correction. 

"The walls were blue and I told you yellow. It 
ivas the door that ivas yellow. The floiver had eight 
leaves on it. The jug hadn't a blue rim round it. 
The lady had a red apron on. She had black shoes 
and the little boy had black shoes and black stock- 
ings. He had red trousers; I said they were blue, 
but they're red. The knife had a black handle, it 
didn't have a yellow one. The pot was red and I 
said it was yellow. No, I didn't, I said it was red." 

Marking of Olive H 's Self -Correction. 

From Olive's self-correction, it seems quite clear 
that we must turn to her original reports and inter- 
rogatories to see just what she did say. She did say 
the walls of the room were yellow,' and 'blue' is an 
acceptable correction. No statement had been made 
as to the color of the door, nor was there any indi- 
cation that the child was aware she had left it out 
previously, so no mark was given for it ; quite obvi- 
ously, it is offered as an excuse for having gone 
wrong about the color of the walls. Olive was aware 
that she had left out the number of the leaves, but, 
unfortunately for her, there were not eight, but 



86 children's perceptions 

nine; so that her correction is not itself correct. 
"The jug had not a blue rim," though she had 
formerly asserted it to have one ; this, therefore, is 
an admitted correction. The color of the lady's 
apron is a correction of the answer given in the sec- 
ond interrogatory. The color of the lady's shoes, 
and the boy's shoes, stockings and trousers are all 
real corrections of error, as is also the statement as 
to the color of the handle of the knife. She was 
quite right about the flower-pot from the first; she 
had said something was yellow which was not, and 
the continued consciousness of this confused her a 
little, in a way which we are indeed fortunate if we 
have never personally experienced. Eight marks 
are therefore gained for self-correction. 

I will ask the reader to note that Olive H 's 

work is distinctly above that of the average 7-year- 
old child, as will be seen from the following table. 

TABLE V. 

SUMMABIZED RESULTS FROM THE WORK OF FOUR-YEAR-OLD 

Children, School A. 



a 



a* W> 60 -rt 



. w 2 to 2 bS o? ©3 <i J« 

, — Age — > oj^3 n a £-3 u a v& a t> 

■».T - Vt- wii. hu -* a> ."ri 0)0) a>r] a> © 

Name. Yrs. Mths. xjzn fees fa>q oqM 02S 02U 

Olive H 7 2 Standard la 34 37 56 39 8 

Isabella W 7 3 Standard la 40 43 53 42 7 

Molly C 7 4 Standard lb 32 38 39 38 3 

William T 7 5 Standard la 39 36 55 38 4 

Constance R 7 6 Standard la 55 37 66 36 4 

Annie S 7 6 Standard lb 20 25 23 27 6 

John M 7 6 Standard lb 22 27 29 28 11 

Eric P 7 7 Standard la 27 33 49 36 9 

Arthur W 7 7 Standard lb 31 30 36 33 4 

Frederic G 7 7 Standard lb 23 29 27 28 4 

Average 7 5.3 32.3 33.5 43.3 34.5 6.0 

Mean variation 7.8 4.7 12.4 4.4 2.2 

♦Standard I is the highest grade in an infants' school ; it is really 

the commencement of the senior-school grading. la is the upper and 
lb is the lower division. 



FIEST SEKIES OF EXPERIMENTS 87 

Comments on Table V. 

There is a steady advance shown in all respects, 
except that of self-correction, beyond the work of 
the 6-year-old children, though the variability with- 
in the group is decidedly high. 

Summarized Results of the Work of the Children in 
School A. 
A comparison between the average results of the 
work of the 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old children may 
most easily be made by reference to the figures of 
Table VI. 

TABLE VI. 

Summarized Results for All Children of School A. 

, Average Marks for \ 



< 


o.q ' 


Yrs. 


ige age.- v 
Mths. 




fa-H 


5 <u 

KP5 


«2m 




3—4 


10 


3 


7.8 


8.3 


13.2 


10.9 


15.8 


0.0 


4—5 


10 


4 


8.9 


15.1 


21.6 


19.4 


24.2 


3.2 


5—6 


10 


5 


8.2 


25.3 


26.3 


31.9 


28.5 


4.4 


6—7 


10 


6 


6.4 


28.7 


29.6 


35.9 


31.5 


7.1 


7-8 


10 


7 


5.2 


32.3 


33.5 


43.3 


34.5 


6.0 



Comments on Table VI. 

It may be of service if I call attention to a few 
of the more prominent of the statistical relation- 
ships between the numbers given in Table VI. 

1. From 3 years to 7 years the marks both for 
the 1st and 2nd Eeports quadruple themselves. 

2. From 3 years to 7 years of age the marks for 
the 1st and 2nd Interrogatories rather more than 
double themselves. 

3. The power of reporting, therefore, grows 
much more rapidly than the power of observation 



88 children's perceptions 

in the narrower sense. Whether this difference is a 
natural one or a nurtural one, or to what extent the 
difference is natural or environmental cannot be de- 
termined with certainty from experiments like 
these. The school curriculum and method of today 
certainly favor a development of a linguistic kind 
rather than one of an observational kind. It is true 
that experimental work on adults also seems to show 
comparatively little development in visual percep- 
tion as compared with progress made in reporting 
upon percepts. But this of itself may be a result of 
school training and life work rather than of inade- 
quate natural endowment. For in schools and life 
it is very important that we should be able to give 
accounts of what we see and know; it is of less ac- 
count to most of us that we should see all there is to 
be seen. The living intelligence, quite rightly, is 
selective ; and we must remember that, in cultivating 
observation — if we can cultivate it — we should con- 
sider always, What for I as well as How ? 

4. The self-corrections do not begin until after 
the age of three is passed; there is then a steady 
rise with age and capacity, but a slight fall at the 
age of seven, which occurs also in the other infants' 
school in which these experiments were made. This 
self-correction is, perhaps, the most highly educa- 
tive aspect of these experiments. The child has to 
remember what he has already said and compare 
with what he now sees. It is an excellent means of 
correcting that pernicious habit of mind, which, un- 
der the name of 'imagination' (a term falsely ap- 
plied psychologically), cannot distinguish what it 
thinks from what it knows, and cannot separate its 



FIRST SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 89 

own contributions to, and interpolations between, 
the facts from the facts themselves. That our most 
confident statements may be wrong, and wrong, too, 
on the evidence of our own perceptions, is a most 
valuable lesson. We are frequently told by others 
(children are very candid to one another in this re- 
spect) that we are quite in error; but that shakes us 
very little ; we know, we think, why other people say 
so; and, if we cannot find an unworthy motive, we 
can at least denounce their incompetence : but the 
method of self-correction here adopted leaves no 
opportunity for evasions of this kind. Of course, 
we can deny that the picture is the same as that 
which we saw before ; and, indeed, that is precisely 
what large numbers of older children actually did, 
as may appear more fully on pages 154, 219, 220, 221. 
5. The general rise from the first to the second 
interrogatory shows that the demand for the pro- 
duction and reproduction of what was learned by 
means of the original visual experience has, on the 
whole, not rendered the memory of it more, but less 
imperfect ; and this is the case, even though many of 
the questions were suggestive of error and, indeed, 
frequently produced it ; but which aspects of the ex- 
perience faded and which aspects seemed to grow 
more stable are questions which must be postponed 
for the present. 



CHAPTER IV. 
SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS. SCHOOL B. 

This school is also a municipal school in London. 
It is situated in a good suburban neighborhood and 
provides school accommodation for a high type of 
child, though probably not for quite the highest type 
of elementary school child. The school staff is a 
good one and the Mistress had had much experience 
in experimental work. About one-third of the ob- 
servations were made by the Mistress and myself 
jointly; the others were made by the Mistress alone. 
The school is somewhat smaller than the one in 
which the observations just described were made, 
and there is one further feature of difference which 
calls for notice. There were so few children in this 
school at that time who were between 3 and 4 years 
of age that we thought no useful purpose would have 
been served by an endeavor to obtain representative 
marks for 3-year-old children of this type, for we 
had not sufficient material to ensure that our figures 
would be fairly representative. But careful selec- 
tions were made of 4-year-old, 5-year-old, 6-year- 
old, and 7-year-old children in the way which has 
already been described in the case of the previous 
school. The precautions adopted in that case to 
prevent the school-staff from teaching up to the 
method, and so invalidating (for psychological pur- 

90 



SECOND SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 91 

poses) the figures obtained, were also adopted in 
this school. Indeed, the only important differences 
between this school and the last one are (1) the su- 
perior social type of children in attendance and (2) 
the paucity of 3-year-old children which, as I have 
said, induced us to leave out the children of this age 
altogether. We commence, therefore, with the work 
of the 4-year-old children. 

I. The Work of the Four- Year-Old Children of 
School B. 

I will give, as exemplifying the work of the chil- 
dren of this age, the reports, answers and self-cor- 
rections of Yola C , whose marks throughout ap- 
proximated closely to the average mark for this 

group. Yola C , aged 4 years 5 months, gave 

his first report on Tuesday, January 17, 1911, at 
2.30 p. m. 

Yola C 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"A little boy — there was the mother there, the 
flowers standing on something. The door was open. 
The boy was eating pudding. The door was open 
and the mother came in, she brought some pudding 
in — she left it open, she did. There was something 
on the floor there. There was something under the 
table. The little boy sat on the chair." 

Marking of Yola C 's First Spontaneous Report. 

Yola C 's first report combines two aspects 

which may at first appear incompatible ; he is cau- 
tious about his identifications of things, and he tells 
us how it was that 'the mother' came to be there. It 
is not a sign of low intelligence to be cautious in 



92 children's perceptions 

identifying; and on our system of marking marks 
will be accredited for 'little boy,' ' mother,' ' flow- 
ers,' ' something' (meaning the box), 'door,' 'boy,' 
'pudding' (the boy's pudding), 'pudding' (the 
mother's pudding), 'something' (the boy's satchel), 
'floor,' 'something' (the jug), 'table' and 'chair.' A 
total of 13 marks is thus scored for the enumeration 
of the persons and things seen in the picture. 

The observed actions are two in number ; the boy 
'was eating,' and 'he sat.' 

There are several positional references. The 
second 'there' was neither emphasized nor accom- 
panied by any indication of locality, so it received 
no mark; and, of course, the first 'there' is not a 
specific reference to position. The flowers are 
'standing on something' is taken to indicate the 
position of the plant; though I do not feel wholly 
certain that, for children of this age, the word 
'standing,' even when used about flowers, contains 
no element of action. The door is 'open.' 'Some- 
thing' (the satchel) is 'on' the floor. 'Something' 
(the jug) is stated to be 'under' the table; but, as 
the jug is actually under the chair, no mark is given 
for this positional reference. Finally, the boy sat 
'on' the chair. There are 'four' marks for position, 
so that a total of 19 marks is given to Yola's first 
report. 

The second report was given exactly one week 
later, namely, at 2.30 on January 24, after the first 
interrogatory which followed immediately upon the 
first report; but it is printed here so that the first 
and second reports may the more easily be com- 
pared. 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 93 

Yola C 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"A boy — he was eating pudding. There was a 
jug under the table. He was sitting on the chair. 
The door was open. The flower was standing on 
something else, a box, I think. They were red; they 
had some red flowers. The mother was standing on 
the floor. There is a jug. A knife on the table." 

Marking of Yola C 's Second Spontaneous 

Report. 

On this occasion, 12 marks are scored for the enu- 
meration of persons and things: one each for 'boy,' 
'pudding,' 'jug,' 'table,' 'chair,' 'door,' 'flower' 
(meaning the plant), 'box,' 'flowers' (meaning the 
blooms), 'mother,' 'floor' and 'knife.' 

There are three actions noted: the boy was 'eat- 
ing' and 'sitting,' and the mother was 'standing.' 

There are five accurate positional references : the 
jug is not 'under' the table; but the boy is 'on' the 
chair, the door is 'open,' the flower (plant) is 
'standing on' the box, the mother is standing 'on the 
floor, ' and the knife is ' on ' the table. 

One descriptive adjective is used: "they were 
red — they had some red flowers." Thus 21 marks 
are obtained for Yola's second report, an advance 
of two units on the work of the previous week. 

Yola C 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 

January 17th and January 24th, 1911, at 2.35 P. M. 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

1. Which side of the table That side (showed This side (showed 

was the lady stand- rightly). wrongly). 

ing? 

2. What was she doing? Standing by him Giving the boy 

holding a pud- some pudding. 



94 



CHILDKEN S PEKCEPTIONS 



Questions. 

3. How was the lady hold- 

ing what she had in 
her hand? 

4. Had the lady anything 

else in her hand be- 
sides what you have 
told me? 

5. What clothes was the 

lady wearing? 

6. What sort of a hat had 

she? 

7. What was she wearing 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? 

9. Had she a pinafore or 

apron on? 
10. Had she a frock on? 



11. What color was her 

blouse ? 

12. What color was her 

skirt? 

13. What color was her 

apron or pinafore? 

14. What color were her 

shoes? 

15. What color was her hair? 

16. What was the boy do- 



17. How was he holding it? 

18. Where were the boy's 

feet? 

19. What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 

20. What color was the boy's 

jacket? 

21. What color were the 

boy's trousers? 

22. What color were the 

boy's boots or shoes? 

23. What color were the 

boy's stockings? 

24. What color was his hair? 

25. What sort of boots had 

he? 



First Set of 

Answers. 

In her hand (shoiv- 
ed wrongly). 

No. 



She might have 

blue on. 
I didn't see one. 

Shoes. 

No. 

An apron. 

A blouse on, and a 
belt round her. 

It might be yellow. 

Black. 

Don't know. 

Black. 

Golden. 

Was sitting down 

on a chair eating 

pudding. 
Like that (showed 

wrongly). 
Under the table. 

Black trousers and 

stockings. 
Black. 

Black or red. 

Black. 

They might be 

black. 
Golden brown. 
Black boots. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 

Like that (showed 
wrongly). 

No. 



She might have 

blue on. 
She might have 

black. 
Shoes and stock- 
ings. 
No. 
No, she had an 

apron on. 
She had a blouse 

on, she had a 

skirt. 
It might, might be 

golden. 
Black. 

Her pinafore? 

white. 
Black. 

Light. 

Sitting on a chair; 
he was eating 



Like thai (showed 

wrongly). 
Under the table. 

He had a suit. 

Black. 

Black. 

Black. 

Black. 

Brown. 
Black. 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 95 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

26. What sort of shoes had His shoes were in His shoes were in 

he? the bedroom. the bedroom. 

27. Did you see anything No. Yes. 

under the boy's chair? 

28. Did you see a jug? / never saw a jug; Yes. 

it might be a pot 
there. 

29. What color was the Brown. Don't know. 

jug? 

30. Did you see anything on Yes, it might be a A stool. 

the floor near the jug? stool there. 

31. What color was the ta- Brown. Brown. 

ble? 

32. What else was on the Tablecloth. Don't know. 

table besides the pud- 
ding? 

33. Did you see a knife? No, the knife was The knife was on 

in the drawer. the table. 

34. Whereabouts on the ta- She cut him a piece (Showed rightly.) 

ble was it? and then she put 

the knife on the 
table. 

35. What color was the Black. Brown. 

knife? 

36. Did you see a flower- Yes. Yes. 

pot? 

37. Where was it? Standing on some- On a great, big 

thing. stool. 

38. What color were the Red. Red. 

flowers? 

39. How many flowers were Two. Two. 

there? 

40. What color were the Brown or black, no Green. 

leaves? green. 

41. How many leaves were Two. Three. 

there ? 

42. What color was the White. Brown. 

flower-pot ? 

43. What color was the box? Black. Black. 

44. What could you see / couldn't see. The grass. 

through the open win- 
dow? 

45. What could you see Yes, there might be The garden. 

through the open door? a jug there. 

46. Did you see a window? No. The window was 

there. 

47. What color were the Brown. White. 



96 CHILDREN'S PERCEPTION'S 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- The color of the It was golden, bits 

pet? floor. of black. 

49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 

50. What room was it? It might be the A kitchen. 

kitchen. 

Marking of Yola C 's First and Second Set of 

Answers. 

The marking of these answers presents little dif- 
ficulty. The lady rightly placed at the table the first 
week, is wrongly placed the week after ; the answers 
about the woman's actions are acceptable; the third 
question, as usual, is wrongly answered, but the sug- 
gestion in Question 4 is resisted. Yola was too 
vague about the woman's dress; and though he re- 
fused at first to accept the suggestion of the hat in 
Question 6, he weakly succumbed the week after, 
and used his favorite formula "it might be." Let 
me, en passant, say that 'it might be' is a step, and 
a considerable one, in the differentiation of the 
child's general knowledge from what he sees in a 
particular picture; but it receives no mark, for the 
child is regarded as having succumbed, though 
doubtfully, to the suggestion that the woman was 
wearing a hat. The answers to Questions 7 and 9 
were accepted; but as I have said, the boy, gener- 
ally speaking, is very inaccurate about the lady's 
dress and he seems scarcely to have remembered 
anything about the colors of her clothes. In the sec- 
ond answer about the boy's clothes, he is said to be 
wearing a 'suit.' On the ground that the word 
1 suit, ' with young children, need not mean garments 



SECOND SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 97 

all of one color or pattern, this answer was accepted. 
The answers about the colors of the boy's clothes 
are, like those about the woman's clothing, very in- 
accurate; but, later on, the references to the jug, 
the satchel (identified as a stool, not the big stool or 
box on which the plant stands which he refers to in 
the answer to Question 37), the flower-pot and flow- 
ers, and the excellent answer about the color of the 
carpet given in the second interrogatory show that 
Yola had not altogether wasted his minute of ob- 
servation. Twenty-one marks were obtained for his 
first set of answers and 23 for the second. 

Yola C 's Self -Corrections. 

"That's a blue skirt. Her apron's red. The boy 
had got a green coat and red trousers. A bag not a 
stool. I can see his shoes there. I can see the table." 

Marking of Yola C 's Self-Corrections. 

The boy is obviously aware that several of his an- 
swers to color-questions were wrong and he cor- 
rects some of them. The skirt is 'blue;' he had said 
in the interrogatories that it was black (Question 
12). "Her apron's red;" he had said that it was 
white, or that he did not know (Question 13). The 
boy's coat is 'green' and his trousers are 'red'; he 
had said they were black, though once there was a 
glimmering memory of the redness of the trousers. 
The satchel was a 'bag,' not a stool! The boy's 
shoes were there, (not in the bedroom (Question 
26). "I can see the table" does not appear to con- 
tain an element of self-correction, so it receives no 
mark. There are thus 6 corrections which satisfy 
the conditions under which marks are given. 



98 childken's peeceptions 

TABLE Via. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Seven- Year-Old 
Children, School B. 



a* m M 

Name. Yrs. Mths. ok fa« few ootf ikm 020 

Ernest M 4 3 Grade Ha 22 25 27 33 10 

Phyllis S 4 5 Grade lib 15 21 19 22 1 

Gladys S 4 5 Grade lib 11 20 10 22 3 

Yola C 4 5 Grade lib 19 21 21 23 6 

Leonard S 4 5 Grade lib 13 27 19 30 2 

Dorothy H 4 8 Grade Ha 15 23 22 24 4 

Eric M 4 8 Grade Ha 21 26 27 28 3 

Maud C 4 9 Grade lib 14 24 29 25 5 

Jack L 4 10 Grade Ha 27 27 42 35 3 

Mildred G 4 11 Grade Ha 15 21 17 26 9 

Average 4 6.9 17.2 23.5 23.3 26.8 4.6 

Mean variation 4.0 2.3 6.4 3.8 2.3 

♦Grade II is an infant-school grading. Ila is the upper and lib ia 
the lower division. 

Comments on Table VI. 

I suggest that, side by side with this table, the 
table showing the work of the 4-year-old children in 
School A be also consulted. There seems little 
doubt that, in every respect, we are dealing with an 
abler group of children in School B than in School 
A. Their average marks are higher both for re- 
ports and interrogations, and, what is perhaps even 
more important as a criterion of ability, they show a 
much greater proportionate improvement from the 
first report to the second report and from the first 
to the second interrogatory — moreover, all of them 
make successful efforts at self-correction whilst, in 
School A, there were three children out of the ten 
selected who gained no marks whatever under this 
head. The difference between School A and School 
B 4-year-old children appears to be a little greater 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 99 

in reporting than in actual observation, in so far as 
this latter is measured by the answers to the 50 
questions of the interrogatory. 

II. The Work of the Five- Year-Old Children of 
School B. 

The work of the children of this age will be illus- 
trated by the reports, answers, and self-corrections 

of Harold N , aged 5 years 5 months, whose 

marks are about the average for the children of this 
age. The work was done at 10.45 a. m. on Tuesdays, 
July 4 and 11, 1911. 

Harold N '5 First Spontaneous Report. 

"There is a little boy sitting on a chair eating 
cake, and there's a table there and a plate on the 
table. And the mother is there holding a dish, and 
there's the floor with lines on it, and there's a door 
where you go into the scullery; it was open. The 
table had legs with curls in them, what goes in and 
out like my mother's table. The little boy is just 
going to put the cake on his plate. The mother is 
standing up; the mother's got an apron on and she 
has got her hair done up; she is just waiting for the 
little boy to finish his cake; she is going to cut a 
piece more. There is a gas-stove and a plant on it." 

Marking of Harold N 's First Report. 

Harold N 's report is a long one, and con- 
tains much continuous narration for a child of his 
age. He does not distinguish what he has seen in 
the picture from what he has thought about it, and 
therefore receives fewer marks than he would if 



100 children's perceptions 

his efforts were merely efforts in English composi- 
tion. 

For the enumeration of persons and things he ob- 
tains 14 marks; one each for 'boy,' 'chair,' 'cake,' 
'table,' 'mother,' 'dish,' 'floor,' 'lines,' 'door,' 'legs' 
(of the table), 'apron,' 'hair,' 'gas-stove' (the box 
on the right of the picture), and 'plant.' 

An unusual number of actions are reported: the 
boy is 'sitting down,' he is 'eating cake,' he is 'going 
to put the cake on his plate ; ' the mother is ' holding 
a dish,' she is 'standing up,' and she is 'just wait- 
ing' for the little boy to finish his cake. 

A mark was allowed for the statement that the 
mother was waiting; it was thought that this might 
have been an observation from her attitude; but 
when Harold proceeded to tell us that she is ' ' going 
to cut a piece more, ' ' it was felt that nothing obser- 
vational justified this remark. Harold thus notes 6 
actions. 

Accurate positional references are not numerous : 
the boy sits 'on' the chair; but there is no plate on 
the table. There are lines 'on' the floor, the door is 
'open,' and the plant is 'on' the gas-stove — a total 
of 4 correct references to position. 

There is one adjectival reference which is good 
and unusual: the mother has got her hair 'done up.' 
The door is described as one "where you go into the 
scullery ; " I hesitated somewhat about this, since, if 
the room is a kitchen, the door may well be a scul- 
lery door; but as nothing observational indicates a 
scullery, I thought it fairer to allow no mark. 

Harold's first report, therefore, obtains 25 marks. 
The second was made, as usual, exactly one week 
later. 



SECOND SEEIES OP EXPEEIMENTS 101 

Harold N 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"There was a knife on the table and there was the 
mother holding a dish. There was a gas-stove, there 
was a plant on it. It had some red flowers on it, and 
there was some earth in the pot. The pot was red. 
The floor had black stripes on. And the mother had 
a blouse on, and a skirt and a red apron. She had 
her hair rolled up. And the mother had some shoes 
on. The little boy had some shoes on. He was eat- 
ing some cake. There was a jar on the floor. There 
was a door. It was blue outside. The door was 
open. The table had legs. The little boy ivas sitting 
on the chair." 

Marking of Harold N 's Second Report. 

This report makes a great advance in accuracy 
on the first one; on this occasion every statement 
counts. The legs of the table no longer curl in and 
out like mother's table and the door is no longer a 
scullery door. Nor do we learn this time that the 
mother is just going to cut some more cake. 

There are 24 correct enumerations and three ac- 
tions are reported. The positional references are 
numerous and there are several descriptive qualifi- 
cations. In all Harold N scores 40 marks for 

his second report — four marks above the average 
for his group. 

Haeold N 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 

Tuesdays, July 4th and July 11th at 10.50 A. M. 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

1. Which side of the table That side (showed That side (showed 
was the lady stand- rightly). rightly). 

ing? 



102 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



Questions. 



First Set of 

Answers. 



Second Set of 

Answers. 



2. What was she doing? Holding a dish. Holding a dish. 

3. How was the lady hold- Like this (showed Like this (showed 

ing what she had in wrongly). wrongly). 
her hand? 

4. Had the lady anything No. No. 

else in her hand be- 
sides the dish? 

5. What clothes was the An apron and a An apron and a 

lady wearing? blouse and a blouse and skirt, 
skirt. 

6. What sort of a hat had She didn't have one. She hadn't got one 



she? 

7. What was she wearing Shoes. 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? Yes. 

9. Had the lady a pinafore Yes. 

or apron on? 
10. Had the lady a frock Yes. 
on? 



at all. 
Shoes. 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Yes. 

White. 

White. 

Red. 

Black. 

Brown. 

Eating cake. 



11. What color was her Yellow. 

blouse? 

12. What color was her Black. 

skirt? 

13. What color was her White. 

apron? 

14. What color were her Black. 

shoes? 

15. What color was her Brown. 

hair? 

16. What was the boy do- Eating cake. 

ing? 

17. How was he holding it? (Showed nearly (Showed nearly 

rightly. ) rightly. ) 

18. Where were the boy's Hanging down. On the floor. 

feet? 

19. What clothes was the A coat, trousers, Shoes and socks 

boy wearing? shoes and stock- and a coat and 

ings. trousers. 

20. What color was the Blue. Grey. 

boy's coat? 

21. What color were his Blue. Grey. 

trousers ? 

22. What color were the Black. Black. 

boy's boots or shoes? 

23. What color were his Dark blue. Black. 

stockings ? 

24. What color was his hair? Brown. Brown. 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 



103 



Questions. 

25. What sort of boots had 

he? 

26. What sort of shoes had 

he? 

27. Did you see anything un- 

der the boy's chair? 

28. Did you see a jug? 

29. What color was the jug? 

30. Did you see anything on 

the floor near the jug? 

31. What color was the ta- 

ble? 

32. What else was on the ta- 

ble besides the dish? 

33. Did you see a knife? 

34. Whereabouts on the table 

was it? 



35 



was the 



37. 
38. 

39. 



What color 
knife ? 
36. Did you see a flower- 
pot? 

Where was it? 

What color were the 
flowers ? 

How many flowers were 
there? 

40. What color were the 

leaves? 

41. How many leaves were 

there? 

42. What color was the 
flower-pot ? 

What color was the box? 

What could you see 
through the open win- 
dow? 

What could you see 
through the open door? 

Did you see a window? 

47. What color were the 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- 

pet? 

49. Did you see a carpet? 
50 What room was it? 



43. 

44. 



45. 
46. 



First Set of 
Answers. 


Second Set of 
Answers. 


Shoes. 


Shoes. 


Black. 


Black. 


No. 


Yes. 


Yes. 
Black. 

No. 


Yes. 

White. 

No. 


White. 


Brown. 


A cloth. 


A knife. 


Yes. 

Just ~by the little 
boy (showed 
rightly). 

White handle, the 
other silver. 

Yes. 


Yes. 

There by the little 
boy (showed 
rightly) . 

Silver, and white 
handle. 

Yes. 


On the gas-stove. 
Red. 


On the gas-stove. 
Red. 


Four. 


Four. 


Green. 


Green. 


A lot. 


A lot. 


Red. 


Red. 


Red. 

Nothing, only a tit 
of blue. 


Red. 
Blue. 


I didn't see. 


Blue. 


No. 

I didn't see. 


No. 
Blue. 


Black, the part 

with the lines on. 
Yes. 
The kitchen. 


Grey. 

Yes. 

The kitchen. 



104 children's perceptions 

Marking of Harold N 's First and Second Sets 

of Answers. 

There is very little in these answers that calls for 
special comment or that presents difficulty in mark- 
ing. This boy, with the exception of the very diffi- 
cult question as to how the woman was holding the 
cake (Number 3), had an uninterrupted score of 
success until he reached the questions on the colors 
of the woman's dress. His answers to color ques- 
tions were almost uniformly bad, though he had per- 
haps noticed the bluish appearance outside the 
door and he certainly had noticed the black lines 
on the floor, though he did not know the color 
of the floor generally. In answer to the ques- 
tion (Number 18) "Where were the boy's feet?" 
he very obviously made 'shots,' not at random, 
of course, but in accordance with customary ex- 
perience. He did not see the satchel (Question 
30) ; he did see the knife, though he had ap- 
parently forgotten it for a moment; and he had 
noticed the flowers of the plant on the box which he 
calls the gas-stove. The question as to the color of 
the box had little meaning for him, unless he was 
thinking of the satchel on the floor, as it is just pos- 
sible he might have been, though that seems, from 
the self-correction, to have been very unlikely. I 
found it difficult not to allow marks for his answers 
to Question 44; but he has not resisted the sugges- 
tion of the window, and so cannot properly be re- 
garded as having answered this question accurately. 
Twenty-seven marks are obtained for the first in- 
terrogatory and 32 for the second. 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 105 

Harold N 's Self -Correction. 

"I said four flowers and there are only three. The 
mother had a blue shirt on. A school-bag was on the 
floor. Green coat; I said 'grey.' His trousers were 
red. Stockings blue." 

Marking of Harold N 's Self -Correction. 

There are 6 definite corrections, as will readily 
be seen by turning to Harold's reports and answers. 
He had said that he had seen nothing on the floor, 
but now finds that there is a school-bag there. Four 
of the corrections concern color ; he simply had not 
noticed the color before. 

TABLE VII. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Five- Year-Old 
Children, School B. 



, Ago , %Z E§ ££ S| §3 sag 

Name. Yrs. Mths. oao h& Sw scci m>3 zdO 

Marjory P 5 4 Grade Ilia 35 38 39 41 2 

Alice W 5 4 Grade Ilia 32 33 55 37 9 

Harold N 5 5 Grade Illb 25 27 40 32 6 

Eileen J 5 6 Grade Illb 42 29 49 31 5 

Margaret A 5 6 Grade Illb 42 35 53 40 5 

Dorothy S 5 6 Grade Ilia 18 24 23 30 5 

Frederic M 5 6 Grade Illb 24 30 26 28 7 

Charles C 5 7 Grade Ilia 18 24 27 27 6 

William B 5 8 Grade Ilia 23 26 27 28 6 

Stacey L 5 11 Grade Ilia 19 26 32 26 11 

Average 5 6.3 27.8 29.2 37.1 32.0 6.2 

Mean variation 8.0 3.8 10.2 4.4 1.7 

♦Grade III is an infant-school grading; it consists mostly of chil- 
dren who will be six or somewhat older at the end of the educational 
year. Ilia is the upper and Illb is the lower division. 

Comments on Table VII. 

A great advance is to be seen in the spontaneous 
reports of the children of this age, and a steady ad- 



106 children's perceptions 

vance, though smaller, on their power to answer 
questions on what they have observed. The second 
report is much better than the first, and the second 
interrogatory is decidedly better than the first, 
though the difference between them is much less. 
There is also great improvement in the power to 
make self-corrections. 

III. The Work of the Six- Year-Old Children op 
School B. 

The 6-year-old children of this school show great 
capacity in work of this kind. As an illustrative ex- 
ample, I give the work of Roland V , aged 6 

years 9 months, who did average work for this 
group, except in his second report, which was much 
above the average. He gave his reports on Wednes- 
days, August 31, and September 7, 1910, at 10.30 a. m. 

Roland V 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"There is a flower-pot standing on a box and a 
little boy eating a piece of cake. And there is a 
mother cutting him a piece ivith a knife. And he is 
sitting on a chair, and the door is open. The mother 
is putting a pot on the table, and she is standing on 
the floor and the little boy is tasting the cake. The 
knife is on the table. There is the legs of the chair 
in the picture and the legs of the table. There is 
something standing down on the floor with hooks 
and there is the paper on the wall. There is the sky 
outside. The little boy has got his boots and stock- 
ings on and the mother has got the apron on, and 
she has got the pot on the table and she is holding it. 
I can't think of anything else. if 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 107 

Marking of Roland V 's First Report. 

Eoland says that he can't think of anything else, 
but he has certainly remembered a great deal. He 
scores 20 marks for enumeration of persons and 
things. 

Several actions are correctly noticed; the boy is 
'eating' and 'sitting;' the mother is 'putting' the 
pot on the table; she is 'holding' the pot and 'stand- 
ing' on the floor. No mark is given for "the little 
boy is tasting the cake," it is held to be equivalent 
to eating it, which has already been said. The 
mother is not cutting the cake, though she has prob- 
ably just done so ; the statement is not allowed as an 
observed activity. The actions correctly noted num- 
ber five. 

Positional references are numerous. The flower- 
pot is 'standing' and it is 'on' the box; the boy is sit- 
ting 'on' a chair, and the door is 'open;' the pot is 
' on ' the table ; the woman is standing ' on ' the floor, 
and the knife is 'on' the table; something (the 
satchel) is 'standing,' it is 'down on' the floor and 
the hooks are 'on' it; the paper is 'on' the wall, and 
the sky is 'outside'; a total of 12. The apron is 'on' 
the mother, but that is equivalent with these children 
to the mother has an apron on, so no positional mark 
is given for it. 

Eoland scores 37 marks for his first report. 

Roland V 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"There was a little hoy with hoots and stockings 
on, and he was tasting a piece of cake. There was a 
knife on the table and the mother had an apron on 



108 children's perceptions 

and she had the pot in her hand. The little boy was 
sitting on a chair, and the door was open and he had 
laced boots — there were the legs of the chair what 
he was sitting on. The boy had a coat on and he had 
dark brown hair. There ivas the table — it had j our 
legs. The knife had a point to it, and it had a brown 
handle and the table was fiat. The mother was 
watching him. The door was open. I couldn't see 
any carpet or any windoivs, and there was some- 
thing beside the chair that ivas flat with two hooks 
and two legs. There was the floor and no carpet on 
it. The mother had a bodice on. There was a pot 
with a geranium in and the pot was on the box. The 
box ivas all made of wood and the box was red and 
so ivas the flower. The box was yellow. There were 
nails in it and there was mould for the flower, and 
there were little branches to the flower. The stalk 
was green. You could see the sky out of the door 
and the sky was white and blue. The mother had 
been cooking and she left the door open and the door 
ivas brown and it was all made of wood. There was 
the handle to the door." 

Marking of Roland V 's Second Report. 

It is really hard to believe that Roland had not 
again had access to the picture ; but since there was 
probably no other similar picture in London at the 
time, and this particular picture was carefully kept 
in the custody of the Head Mistress, it is certain 
that he had not. 

First, awarding marks for the enumeration of 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 109 

persons and things, lie scores for 'boy,' ' stockings,' 
'piece of cake,' ' knife,' ' table,' 'mother,' 'apron,' 
'pot' (the hemispherical loaf), 'hand,' 'chair,' 
'door,' 'legs' (of the chair), 'coat,' 'hair,' 'legs' (of 
the table), 'knife,' 'point' (of the knife), 'handle' 
(of the knife), 'something' (the satchel), 'hooks' 
(the tabs on the satchel), 'legs' (the straps of the 
satchel), 'floor,' 'bodice,' 'pot' (the flower-pot), 
'geraninm,' 'box,' 'flower' (of the geranium), 
'nails,' 'mould,' 'branches' (of the geranium), 
'stalk' (of the geranium), and 'sky;' a total of 32 
marks. There was no handle to the door. 

Of actions it is noted that the boy 'was tasting' 
the cake, and 'was sitting' on the chair; and the 
mother 'was watching' him. It is not regarded as 
observational to say 'the mother had been cooking.' 
Actions correctly mentioned on this occasion num- 
ber three only. Positional references total nine. 

But it is in the qualifications which he inserts that 
Eoland makes his great advance; the boy's hair is 
'brown;' the legs of the table number 'four;' the 
handle of the knife is 'brown;' the table 'flat;' the 
something (satchel) is 'flat;' there are 'two' hooks 
(the tabs of the satchel) ; there are 'two' legs (the 
straps of the satchel) ; the box was 'made of wood;' 
the flower-pot is 'red;' the flower is 'red;' the box 
is 'yellow;' the branches (of the geranium) are 'lit- 
tle ; ' the sky is ' white ' and ' blue ; ' the door is ' brown ' 
and 'made of wood.' A total of 16 marks is scored 
for these aspects of his reported observations. 

For Eoland V 's second report the high total 

of 60 marks is scored. 



110 



CHILDBEN S PEECEPTIONS 



Roland V 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 

Wednesdays, August 31st and September 7th, Immedi- 
ately After the Conclusion of His Reports. 



Questions. 

1. Which side of the table 

was the lady stand- 
ing? 

2. What was she doing? 



First Set of 

Answers. 



Second Set ob 

Answers. 



That side {showed That side {showed 
rightly). rightly). 

Cutting the cake She was cutting the 







for the little boy. 


boy a piece of 










cake. 


3. 


How was the lady hold- 


With her two hands 


With her two hands 




ing what she had in 


{ showed 


wrong- 


like that {show- 




her hand? 


ly). 




ed wrongly). 


4. 


Had the lady anything 


No, the knife was 


No. 




else in her hand be- 


on the table. 






side what you have 










told me about? 








5. 


What clothes was the 


An apron 


and a 


An apron and a 




lady wearing? 


dress on. 




dress. 


G. 


What sort of a hat had 


She didn't have antf, 


She didn't have a 




she? 


hat. 




hat. 


7. 


What was she wearing 


Boots and 


stock- 


Boots and stock- 




on her feet? 


ings. 




ings. 


8. 


Could you see her feet? 


Yes. 




No, I could see the 
tip of her boot. 


9. 


Had she a pinafore or 
apron on? 


Yes. 




Yes. 


10. 


Had she a frock on? 


Yes. 




Yes. 


11. 


What color was the top 
part of her dress? 


White. 




White. 


12. 


What was the color of 
her skirt? 


Blue. 




Black. 


13. 


What color was her 
apron? 


Blue. 




White. 


14. 


What color were her 
boots or shoes? 


Black. 




Black. 


15. 


What color was the 
lady's hair? 


Brown. 




Brown. 


16. 


What was the boy do- 


Eating a 


piece of 


Eating a piece of 




ing? 


cake. 




cake. 


17. 


How was he holding it? 


Like this 
rightly ) . 


{showed 


Like this {showed 
rightly). 


IS. 


Where were the boy's 


In his stockings. 


Below the chair. 




feet? 








19. 


What clothes was the 


In a coat, 


, and he 


In a coat and stock- 




boy wearing? 


had his 


boots on 


ings and boots. 



and buttons to 
his coat. 



SECOND SEEIES OE EXPERIMENTS 



111 



Questions. 

20. What color was the 

boy's coat? 

21. What color were the 

boy's trousers? 

22. What color were the 

boy's boots or shoes? 

23. What color were his 

stockings? 

24. What color was his hair? 

25. What sort of boots had 

he? 

26. What sort of shoes had 

he? 

27. Did you see anything 

under the boy's chair? 

28. Did you see a jug? 

29. What color was it? 

30. Did you see anything on 

the floor near the jug, 
and if you did, what 

was it? 

31. What color was the ta- 

ble? 

32. What else was there on 

the table bgsides what 
the lady was holding? 

33. Did you see a knife? 

34. Whereabouts on the ta- 

ble was it? 

35. What color was the 

knife? 

36. Did you see a flower- 

pot? 

37. Where was it? 



38. What color were the 

flowers? 

39. How many flowers were 

there? 

40. What color were the 

leaves? 

41. How many leaves were 

there? 



First Set of 


Second Set of 


Answers. 


Answers. 


Brown. 


Brown. 


Brown. 


Black. 


Black. 


Black. 


Brown. 


Brown. 


Light brown. 


Light brown. 


Lace boots. 


Lace up. 


Boots he had. 


Big ones. 


His legs and the 


No. 


legs of the chair. 




Yes. 


I saw something 




like a jug. 


White, with flow- 


White, with flow 


ers on. 


ers on it. 


A flat thing with 


The flat thing with 


something like 


two hooks and 


two little legs, 


two legs. 


and there was 




two hooks. 




Brown. 


Brown. 


A knife. 


A knife. 


Yes. 


Yes. 


Just there (showed 


Just there (showed 


rightly ) . 


rightly) . 


Brown handle, the 


Brown the handle 


other was white 


was; the other 


color. 


was white. 


Yes, with mould in 


Yes. 


the top. 




On a box, and the 


Yes, in the middle 


flower was a ge- 


of the box. 


ranium. 




Red. 


Red. 


Two. 


About four. 


Green. 


Green. 


Four. 


Six. 



112 CHILDBEDS PEECEPTIONS 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

42. What color was the Red. Red. 

flower-pot? 

43. What color was the box? Yellow. Yellow. 

44. What did you see through Fresh air. I couldn't see any 

the open window? window. 

45. What did you see through The shy. Fresh air and the 

the open door? sky. 

46. Did you see a window? No, no window. No. 

47. What color were the Shady green. Green. 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- / didn't see any I didn't see any 

pet? carpet. carpet. 

49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 

50. What room was it? Not a very big A kitchen. 

room. I think it 
was a kitchen. 

Marking of Roland V 's First and Second 

Interrogatories. 

No difficult case arises throughout these answers, 
and the correct answers number exactly the same in 
both interrogatories. The woman's skirt, 'blue' the 
first week, is 'black' the week after. But the sug- 
gestion of a window, half accepted the first week, is 
decidedly negatived in the second interrogatory. 
All the remaining answers are identical in meaning 
from week to week, though this boy varies his 
phraseology more than most. He is very good at 
resisting suggestions to error. "No, the knife was 
on the table" (Number 4); "She didn't have any 
hat" (Number 6); "I couldn't see any window" 
(Number 44) ; but he accepts the suggestion that the 
boy had boots and makes them 'lace-up boots.' The 
only considerable weakness in the answers is in 
those relating to the color of the clothing both of 
the woman and the boy, and the errors as to the num- 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 113 

bers of the flowers and leaves. Eoland's mark is 34; 
which is the average mark of the children of this 
group in the first interrogatory and is just below the 
average mark for the second interrogatory. 

Roland V 's Self -Correction. 

"There is a jug under the chair. I said the stock- 
ings were brown but they are blue. His coat is green 
as well and her frock is blue and so is her bodice, 
and his trousers are red. The mother's apron is red 
The boy's hair is not brown, it is red and brown. 
There are a lot of leaves — nine. There are only 
three flowers." 

Marking of Roland V 's Self-Correction. 

This self-correction is well and clearly done. But 
Eoland had already accepted the jug, though doubt- 
fully, and he could not be marked again for that. A 
glance at his answers in the interrogatories will 
show that all the other statements are really correc- 
tions. Even the 'red and brown' hair is more accu- 
rate than 'brown,' though 'brown' has been allowed 
as a correct answer. Eoland is quite well aware 
that his number-answers and color-answers were 
faulty, and puts many of them right. He scores 8 
marks for self-correction ; the average for the group 
is 7.0. 

Comments on Table VIII. 

There is a considerable advance in all respects on 
the work of the preceding year. In the power of re- 
porting, the advance is very great indeed; and the 
improvement of the second week's reports upon the 
first is also very considerable. 



114 children's perceptions 

table viii. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Six-Year-Old Children, 

School B. 



a* so M a 

a M 2 w2mS o 2 o 5 ^ £ 

Name. Yrs. Mths. um £M few K-B5 ddm oqO 

Albert W 6 1 Standard lb 35 29 37 28 9 

Cyril B 6 2 Standard la 33 28 47 32 5 

Percy H 6 2 Standard lb 37 37 38 36 11 

Mabel M 6 3 Standard lb 36 33 43 34 9 

Marjorie S 6 6 Standard la 52 33 58 34 7 

Henri M 6 6 Standard lb 49 36 54 42 5 

Will H 6 9 Standard la 47 34 64 34 7 

Roland V 6 9 Standard lb 37 34 60 34 8 

Freda R 6 10 Standard la 34 41 48 41 3 

Louisa B 6 11 Standard la 54 34 57 35 6 

Average 6 5.9 41.4 33.9 50.6 35.0 7.0 

Mean variation 7.1 2.5 8.1 2.8 1.8 

* Standard I is the highest grade in an infants' school ; it is really 
the commencement of senior-school grading. la is the upper and lb 
is the lower division. 

IV. The Work of the Seven- Year-Old Children of 
School B. 

I give below, for illustrative purposes, one com- 
plete set of reports and answers from the work of 
the 7-year-old children. I select the work of Wini- 
fred S , aged 7 years 1 month, who gave her re- 
ports on Tuesdays, October 4 and 11, 1910, at 10.45 
a. m. In this case, the illustration is not really 
typical of the children of this group, since Wini- 
fred's work is much above the average. It must be 
regarded as of a very high character for children of 
this age. 

Winifred S 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"There is a little hoy eating a piece of cake and 
there is a lady ivith a big bowl in her hand. There 
is a flower-pot with some flowers in. There is a 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 115 

door-way behind the lady. There is a jug down by 
the table near the little boy. There were some lines 
on it. The door is open. The little boy is sitting on 
a chair. He has red stockings. His mother's got a 
red apron on. There is a big flower-pot. The cake, 
that the little boy is eating, has got currants in, and 
the mother is just lifting up the big bowl. There is 
a red flower with some green and black leaves. The 
little boy has a blue coat on. He's got black shoes 
on. And you can see the sky through the door. 
There is a lot of milk in the big bowl. And the little 
boy is eating a brown and yellow cake. You can see 
the sky through the door." 

Marking of Winifred S 's First Report. 

Twenty-one marks are given for enumerating 
persons and things. 'Door' is twice mentioned to- 
wards the end of the report, but, in the sense in 
which it is used, is equivalent to 'doorway' which 
has previously received a mark. 

The actions noted are as follows: the boy is 'eat- 
ng' and 'sitting'; the lady is 'lifting up' the bowl. 

Positional references are numerous and yield a 
total of 12 marks. 

There is a considerable number of correct quali- 
fications: the bowl is a 'big' one; the lady's apron 
is 'red;' the flower is 'red;' the boy's shoes are 
'black;' there is 'a lot of milk in the bowl (the so 
called bowl may perhaps fairly be regarded as full 
of milk) ; and the cake the boy is eating is 'brown' 
and 'yellow;' a total of 9 marks. It was thought 
that the flower-pot cannot justly be regarded as a 
'big' one, so that no mark was given for this qualifi- 



116 children's perceptions 

cation. One interesting and unusual adverbial 
modification has not yet been mentioned : the lady is 

'just' lifting the bowl. Winifred S totals 46 

marks for her first report. 

Winifred S 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"There was a knife on the table and there was a 
little boy eating a cake sitting on a high chair and 
there was a big jug on the floor and a little stool. 
There was a lady lifting up a bowl and there was a 
flower-pot. It had a flower in — it was standing on a 
box. The flower tvas red and the leaves were green 
and black. There was a door and it was open. You 
could see the sky through the door. And the jug 
was green. The little boy had red stockings. The 
sky was blue and white. The little stool was tipped 
up on one side. The handle of the knife was brown 
and the lady's hair was brown. She had on a blue 
skirt and blouse and she had on a red apron. She\ 
was just going to turn round. The little boy's cake 
had got currants in it. The flower-pot was brown. 
The boivl had milk in. The cake was yellow and 
brown. The knife was white and brown with a little 
black round the end. The door tvas only opened a 
little way. The floor was brown. The flower-pot 
was in a little saucer." 

Marking of Winifred S 's Second Report. 

Marks for the enumeration of persons and things 
amount to 27, in which is included 'milk' (evidently 
the yellowish pink appearance of the top of the loaf) 
— an improvement of 6 marks on the first report. 

Of activities the following are mentioned : the boy 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 



117 



'is eating' and 'sitting,' and the lady is 'lifting up' 
a bowl. Winifred says also that ' ' she was just going 
to turn round," but there does not seem any obser- 
vational evidence for this, so no mark was awarded. 

As before, positional references are numerous; 
in fact, they now warrant 14 marks, an improvement 
of two upon the earlier record. 

But again as before, the excellence of Winifred '3 
report lies in the large number of correct qualifica- 
tions (mostly colorings) which she gives. A total 
of 21 marks is awarded for these adjectival and ad- 
verbial qualifications — a gain of 13 marks on the 
first week's record. 

Winifred's total mark for her second report is 65, 
an extremely high mark, higher indeed than that of 
any other child tested in this, or in the preceding 
infants' school. 



Winifred S 's First and Second Sets of Answers Given on 

Tuesdays, October 4th and 11th, Immediately 
After the Reports. 



Questions. 

1. Which side of the table 

was the lady stand- 
ing? 

2. What was she doing? 



How was the lady hold- 
ing what she had in 
her hand? 

Had the lady anything 
else in her hand be- 
sides what you have 
told me about? 

What clothes was the 
lady wearing? 



First Set of 

Answers. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 



On the right side On the right side 
{showed right- {showed right- 
ly), ht). 

She was just pick- She was lifting up 

ing up the big the bowl, 
bowl. 

Like that {showed With her two hands 

wrongly). {showed wrong- 
ly). 

No. No. 



She had a red She had a red 

apron on and a apron on and a 

blue blouse and blue blouse and 

skirt. skirt. 



118 



children's perceptions 



Questions. 

6. What sort of a hat had 

she? 

7. What was she wearing 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? 

9. Had she a pinafore or 

apron on? 

10. Had she a frock on? 

11. What color was the top 

part of her dress? 

12. What was the color of 

her skirt? 

13. What color was her 

apron? 

14. What color were her 

boots or shoes. 

15. What color was the 

lady's hair? 

16. What was the boy do- 

ing? 



First Set of 
Answers. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 



She hadn't got any She didn't have any 

hat on. hat on. 

I couldn't see. I couldn't see any- 
thing on her feet. 

No. No. 

Yes, a red one. Yes. 

She had a Hue No, she had only a 

blouse and skirt. House and skirt. 

Blue. Blue. 

Blue, the same Blue. 

color. 

Red. Red. 

I didn't see the I didn't see any 

toots. boots. 

Brown. Brown. 



17. How was he holding it? 

18. 

19. 



Where were the boy's 
feet? 



What clothes was the 
boy wearing? 



20. What color was the 

boy's coat? 

21. What color were his 

trousers? 

22. What color were his 

boots or shoes? 

23. What color were his Red 

stockings? 

24. What color was his hair? 

25. What sort of boots had 

he? 



Sitting up on the 


Eating a cake. 


chair with his 




feet tucked in the 




rail eating a 




cake. 




In his two hands 


In his two hands 


( showed wrong- 


(showed wrong- 


ly)- 


ly). 


They were tucked 


They were tucked 


inside the rail of 


inside the rail of 


the chair. 


the chair. 


He had a blue coat 


He had a blue 


on, and red trous- 


jacket on and red 


ers and stockings 


trousers, red 


and black shoes. 


stockings and 




black shoes. 


Blue. 


Blue. 


Red. 


Red. 


Black. 


Black. 



Red. 



Brown. Brown. 

They were little They were pointed 

shoes, pointed shoes. 

ones. 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 



119 



Questions. 

26. What sort of shoes had 

he? 

27. Did you see anything 

under the boy's chair? 

28. Did you see a jug? 

29. What color was it? 

30. Did you see anything on 

the floor near the jug, 
and if you did, what 
was it? 

31. What color was the ta- 

ble? 

32. What else was there on 

the table besides what 
the lady was holding? 

33. Did you see a knife? 

34. Whereabouts on the ta- 

ble was it? 

35. What color was the 

knife? 

36. Did you see a flower- 

pot? 

37. Where was it? 



38. What color were the 

flowers? 

39. How many flowers were 

there? 

40. What color were the 

leaves? 

41. How many leaves were 

there? 

42. What color was the 

flower-pot? 

43. What color was the box ? 

44. What did you see through 

the open window? 

45. What did you see through 

the open door? 

46. Did you see a window? 

47. What color were the 

walls of the room? 



First Set of 

Answers. 

Pointed ones. 



Second Set of 

Answers. 

Pointed shoes. 



The jug was near I saw the jug near. 

his chair and the 

little stool. 

Yes. Yes. 

Green with a little Green with some 

Hack on. Hack on. 

A little stool. I saw a little stool. 



Brown. 

I didn't see. 



Yes. 

Just there (showed 
rightly ) . 

It had a white 
blade and a 
brown handle. 

Yes. 

It was on a box. 



Red. 

Four. 

Green and black. 

Five. 

Brown. 

A little bit yellow. 
I didn't see a win- 
dow. 
I could see the sky. 

No. 
Brown. 



Broicn. 
A knife. 

Yes. 

Just there (showed 
rightly ) . 

It was brown and 
white with a lit- 
tle black on. 

Yes. 

It was standing on 
a box, near the 
mother. 

Red. 

I don't know. 

Black and green. 

A lot of leaves. 

A dark brown. 

White. 

I didn't see a win- 
dow. 
I could see the sky. 

No. 
Brown. 



120 children's perceptions 

Fiest Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

48. What color was the car- The floor was There wasn't any 

pet? brown. I didn't carpet there, 

see a carpet. 

49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 

50. What room was it? A kitchen. A kitchen. 



Marking of Winifred S 's First and Second Sets 

of Answers. 

These questions are excellently answered. Wini- 
fred S is one of the best of the children in this 

group in interrogatory work. One of the children is 
somewhat better and one other is equal to Winifred. 
Little comment is demanded by her answers. She 
does not know how the lady was holding the 'bowl' 
(the hemispherical loaf) ; she does not know how 
the boy was holding his piece of cake, she does 
not know how many flowers there were on the 
plant, nor how many leaves there were; nor was 
she at all clear as to the woman's feet. But 
she does know the position of the boy's feet, 
and the position of the knife on the table; she 
is unusually successful in resisting suggestions 
which would have led her astray; she is quite 
sure the woman had no hat, that there was no 
window, and that there was no carpet on the floor; 
and, though her observations and memories of color 
are not invariably correct, they are extremely good, 
bearing in mind, as we always must, that one min- 
ute's observation has supplied all the information. 
All the answers of the first week are identical in 
meaning, (though there is more variation of phrase 
than is usual with young children) with those of the 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 121 

second week, except two. She did not remember at 
once that there was a knife on the table ; the question 
"did you see a knife?" probably reinforced the 
memory of the evanescent perception, for the knife 
was correctly located immediately after. But in one 
respect Winifred's answers were less satisfactory 
the second week, for the color of the box which was 
correctly asserted the first week to be a "little bit 
yellow," had faded away to 'white' a week later. 
Thirty-nine marks were obtained for the first set of 
answers and the same number for the second. 

Winifred S 's Self -Correction. 

"I made a mistake with the color of the box — it is 
yellow with a little black on. There are three flowers 
and nine leaves. The floor is yellow. The jug is 
under the chair. The sky is nearly all white. The 
chair isn't high. I thought the seat was higher up. 
-His coat is green and his stockings are blue. The 
bowl had a little red on." 

Marking of Winifred S 's 8 elf -Correction. 

"Winifred was wrong about the color of the box 
on the occasion of the second interrogatory only, but 
the statement is admitted as a correction. The 
leaves and flowers have now been counted. No ques- 
tion has been asked as to the color of the floor, and 
brown has already been accepted as a correct state- 
ment on the matter. The jug is now rightly placed 
under the chair, not near the chair as before. In 
her second report, Winifred had said the sky is blue 
and white ; it is admittedly a correction to say that 
it is nearly all white. In her second report, she had 



122 childken's perceptions 

said that the chair the boy was using was a 'high' 
one, but this statement is now corrected ; she thought 
the seat was 'higher up.' The colors of the boy's 
coat and stockings, wrongly given throughout, are 
now corrected. The 'bowl' certainly had a little red 
on, but this statement appears to be rather an ampli- 
fication than a correction, and there is no indication 
that it is the insertion of a known omission, so no 
mark is given for it as a self-correction. Eight marks 
are obtained for self-correction, the average mark 
for the group being 7.3. 

TABLE IX. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Seven -Year-Old 
Children, School B. 



a* bo bo .2 

«>§ +>o *=S So g£ .9 

ISame. Yrs. Mths. oco £tf few kjcc) mH mo 

WinifredS 7 1 Standard lb 46 39 65 39 8 

Edwin H 7 3 Standard lb 48 39 55 39 6 

Milly B 7 4 Standard la 23 24 27 27 9 

George M 7 4 Standard lb 33 35 52 31 7 

May G 7 5 Standard lb 29 37 47 37 6 

George L 7 6 Standard lb 43 34 62 31 7 

May L 7 7 Standard la 39 34 43 35 9 

George B 7 9 Standard la 35 41 38 38 6 

Winifred F 7 11 Standard la 49 33 52 35 8 

Jack P 7 11 Standard la 45 36 29 35 7 

Average 7 6 39.0 35.2 47.0 34.7 7.3 

Mean variation 7.2 3.2 10.2 3.0 1.0 
Coefficient of 

variability.. .18 .09 .21 .09 .13 

* Standard I is the highest grade of an infants' school ; it is really 

the commencement of the senior-school grading. la is the upper and 
lb is the lower division. 

Comments on Table IX. 
Even a cursory glance at the table will show some 

apparent discrepancies with the results which, by 
now, the reader will confidently expect. 



SECOND SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 123 

The self-corrections are slightly less than those of 
the 6-year-old group; so are the marks for report- 
ing ; whilst in the interrogatories, though the 7-year- 
old group slightly more than hold their own, they do 
not show the improvement we naturally expect. 
Within the group itself, there is, as usual, a great 
improvement shown in reporting, but there is no 
advance from the first week to the second in the 
power to answer questions ; there is rather a slight 
decline ; no general tendency being shown either way. 

Much of this difference is due to Milly B , who, 

though 7 years and 4 months old, consistently, ex- 
cept in self-correction, does the work of a rather 
inferior 5-year-old child; her marks are practically 

identical with those of her brother, William B , 

who worked in the 5-year-old group. Jack P 



also scored a quite exceptionally low mark in his 
second report, 29 only ; whereas he had scored 45 the 
first time. I cannot account for it ; it was certainly 
not due to forgetfulness, for he answered his second 
set of questions as well as his first. But even if these 
marks are omitted, the 7-year-old group quite fails 
to show the usual improvement over the children of 
the preceding year. An attempt to explain this may, 
perhaps, be more profitably made when further data 
have been collected. 

Summarised Results of the Work of the Children of 
School B. 

A comparison between the average results of the 
work of the 4, 5, 6, and 7-year-old children may most 
easily be made by means of the following table : 



124 childken's perceptions 











TABLE 


X 












Summarized 


Results from the 


Work 


OF 


THE 


Children 


OF 










School 


B. 


























jrage Mai 








i 








^ 














>> 






>> 
















u 






u 
















o 






o 
















+J 






■w 


a 














03 






d 


o 


a 












bo 






bo 




ges. 

o. of 

hildre 


r~ 


Average Age. 


J 

irst 
eport. 




o 

u 

+J u 




a ** 


^2 


o o 


< XV 




Yrs. 


Mtns. 


feM 




few 




CCS 


02w 


WO 


4—5 10 




4 


6.9 


17.2 




23.5 




23.3 


26.8 


4.6 


5—6 10 




5 


6.3 


27.8 




29.2 




37.1 


32.0 


6.2 


6—7 10 




6 


5.9 


41.4 




33.9 




50.6 


35.0 


7.6 


7—8 10 




7 


6.1 


39.0 




35.2 




47.0 


34.7 


7.S 



Comments on Table X. 

1. There is a gradual advance in all the work as 
the children increase in age and ability ; but this ad- 
vance is not evident in the work of the 7-year-old 
children of this school as compared with that of the 
6-year-old children. 

2. Between the ages of 4 and 7, the capacity to 
report and to make self-corrections appears to be 
doubled, and the power of accurate observation and 
memory appears to show an increase of about one- 
and-a-half times. 

3. The power of reporting, therefore, grows 
much more rapidly than the power of observation 
in the narrower sense. This conclusion might in- 
deed be quite independently arrived at by noticing 
the great improvement shown in the reporting from 
week to week and comparing it with the small im- 
provement shown in the answers to the interroga- 
tories. 

4. The self-corrections, as in the preceding 
school, are few in number at the age of 4 and rise 
gradually, year by year, showing a slight drop at the 
age of 7. 



SECOND SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 125 

5. The general rise from the first to the second 
interrogatory shows that the demand for the pro- 
duction and reproduction of what was learnt by the 
original observation has not rendered the memory 
of it more, but less imperfect. The plant metaphor 
often used in this connection, namely, that we must 
not pull up our knowledge to see how it is growing, 
utterly breaks down: the reproductive process here 
employed is stimulating and 'fixing' in its nature, 
the very reverse of what is implied by the analogy 
of the plant. 

Dependence of these results on Social Class. 

It will be remembered that two excellent schools 
had been chosen to do this work — chosen because it 
was believed that there was no other relevant differ- 
ence between them than their location. One was 
situated in a poor neighborhood of the south-west 
of London, and the other on the same side of London, 
about three or four miles distant from the first and 
in a rather good suburban neighborhood. Looking 
at pictures and talking about them are obviously 
functions which are singularly open to 'home-train- 
ing,' or the like of it, so that we must beware lest 
we draw inferences as to greater natural ability on 
the part of the children in the good neighborhood 
which the data of this experiment do not of them- 
selves justify. I say this in the full belief that the 
difference is a natural rather than a nurtural one, 
though the result is compounded of both factors.* 



*W. H. Winch, Social Class and Mental Proficiency in Elementary 
School Children. Journal of Experimental Pedagogy, March and No- 
vember, 1911. 



126 children's perceptions 

But, whether natural or the effect of nurture, the 
difference, if there be one, is significant for educa- 
tional theory. It may be well, however, to establish 
the fact of difference first. 

TABLE XL 

The Work of the Children of School A and School B Compared, 
Age by Age.* 

, — First — ^ , First N ,— Second-^ , — Second * Self- 
Report. Interrogatory. Report. Interrogatory. Correction. 
A. B. A. B. A. B. A. B. A. B. 
8.3 .... 13.2 .... 10.9 .... 15.8 .... 0.0 
15.1 17.2 21.6 23.5 19.4 23.3 24.2 26.8 3.2 4.6 
25.3 27.8 26.2 29.2 31.9 37.1 28.5 32.0 4.4 6.2 
28.7 41.4 29.6 33.9 35.9 50.6 31.5 35.0 7.1 7.0 
7—8... 32.3 39.0 33.5 35.2 43.3 47.0 34.5 34.7 6.0 7.3 



3—4.. 
4—5.. 
5—6.. 



*It will be remembered that there were not enough three-year-old 
children in School B to enable us to take a fair sample of this age. 

It may also be of interest if I show the average 
marks of the 40 children from 4 to 7 years of age of 
School A as compared with those of the 40 children 
of corresponding ages in School B. 

In the First Report the children of School A 
scored an average mark of 25.3 as compared with 
31.4 for School B : for the Second Eeport the corre- 
sponding marks were 32.6 and 39.5 : in the First In- 
terrogatory 27.8 and 30.4: in the Second Interroga- 
tory 29.8 and 32.1 : and for the Self-Corrections 5.1 
and 6.4. 

It is quite obvious from the fore-going table that 
we are in the presence of some common factor which 
is operating throughout to the advantage of School 
B ; and I have suggested that this result arises from 
the superior social class of the children attending it ; 
for in length of school life the children of School B 
are about a year less than in School A. If this be 



SECOND SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 127 

the case, it seems that our educational organization 
should take definite count of this difference in ability 
at a very early age. Schools in poor neighborhoods 
must have a somewhat lighter, or at least a some- 
what different curriculum from the very first years 
of school life. 



CHAPTEB V. 

THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS. 
SCHOOL C, BOYS AND GIRLS. 

The third and fourth series of experiments were 
carried out in the boys' and girls' departments of a 
school in the south-west of London in a neighborhood 
decidedly superior to that of School A, but inferior 
to that of School B. All the children in the school 
worked the exercises, but those of the few 7-year- 
old children were not included, for, at this period of 
the educational year, then some nine months from its 
commencement, the 7-year-old children (if any) in 
senior departments consist of children quite un- 
usually advanced for their age, and no useful pur- 
pose would be served by including them ; their work 
would certainly mislead if regarded as typical. But 
all the children from eight years of age upwards are 
represented in the tables which will follow, so that 
the dangers arising from unsatisfactory sampling 
will be entirely obviated. 

I. Method of Procedure in the Senior Schools. 

Some important differences in the present pro- 
cedure should at once be mentioned, before indicat- 
ing the elements of method common to both the in- 

128 



THIKD AND FOUETH SEKIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 129 

f ants' and senior schools First of all, the children 
in the senior schools wrote their answers them- 
selves; whilst the answers of the younger children 
had been written down for them. Secondly, whilst 
the children of 7 years and nnder were dealt with, 
one by one, by the experimenter, the senior children 
were taken in classes or groups, the larger classes 
being divided for the purpose of the experiment. 
It is quite true that, for persons unaccustomed to 
deal with large numbers of children, there is much 
risk in a procedure which does not allow the per- 
sonal observation of the experimenter to each child 
separately; but in 'good' schools there is so little 
danger arising from children's inattention, espe- 
cially to an interesting matter of relative novelty, 
that the results are often more regular than those in 
which each child works separately under the imme- 
diate supervision of the experimenter. 

An important subsidiary difference arose from the 
employment of the child's own writing. It would 
have been quite impossible for the younger of the 
senior children to have written both reports and an- 
swers consecutively, so that the actual experiments 
covered a slightly longer time than those in the In- 
fant Schools. 

A second important difference arose from the mass 
method of procedure. The small original picture 
could no longer be used. It was much enlarged so 
as to be visible to a whole class or group of children 
at the same time. 

Further details of procedure which, as will be 
seen, were largely identical in both infants' and 
senior schools, now follow. 



130 ohildeen's pekceptions 

1. The picture was so arranged that it could be 
instantaneously exposed or covered. Before it was 
shown to the children they were told that they were 
going to be shown a picture for a minute, and that 
immediately afterwards they were to write down all 
that they could remember of what they had seen in 
the picture. All their papers were prepared before- 
hand, so that no part of the time allotted to the ex- 
perimental work should be occupied by anything 
irrelevant. After the picture was covered each child 
began to write, and made a First Spontaneous Re- 
port ; no time limit was imposed for this exercise. 

2. On the next day at the same time of day, fresh 
papers having been prepared, the experimenter said 
to the children: "You remember the picture I 
showed you yesterday; I want you to answer some 
questions I am going to ask you about it. Begin 
each answer on a fresh line." The questions were 
then called out slowly, one by one, and the answers 
were written one by one. 

3. Exactly one week after the First Report, on 
the same day of the week, and at the same hour of 
the day, fresh papers having been previously pre- 
pared, the children were required to make a Second 
Report, not, of course, being made aware beforehand 
that any second report was to be required of them. 
The experimenter said to the children : ' ' You remem- 
ber the picture I showed you last week ; I want you to 
write down all that you remember to have seen in the 
picture." No time limit was imposed for this exer- 
cise. 

4. On the next day, exactly one week after the 
questions had been answered for the first time, the 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 131 

experimenter said to the children, "I want you to 
answer the questions about the picture again. Be- 
gin each answer on a separate line." Then, as be- 
fore, the questions were called out one by one, and 
the answers were written down, one by one. 

5. When the questions had been answered in writ- 
ing for the second time, the worked papers were col- 
lected and fresh ones supplied. The experimenter 
then said: "I am going to show you the picture 
again, and I want each of you to remember anything 
he (or she) has written down wrongly before, or 
omitted, and also to write down what he (or she) 
ought to have said." No time limit was imposed 
for the exercise, and the corrections were made 
whilst the picture was exposed to view. 

6. It was impossible so to arrange that every 
class or group should take the exercises at the same 
time of day, but the times chosen were all good times 
of the day pedagogically, and no exercises were 
taken on Mondays, a day of low adaptation to mental 
work. Also great care was exercised in order that 
no lesson preceding the tests should involve fatigue 
in writing or practice in observation. And during 
the period of the experiment no lessons were given 
in English Composition, oral or written, nor any 
exercises in unaided observation. 

There were, therefore, five written papers for 
every child in the school, both boys and girls — a First 
Eeport, a First Interrogatory, a Second Eeport, a 
Second Interrogatory and a Self-Correction. Each 
child's papers were enclosed within one cover, so 
that easy references might be made from one test to 
another worked by the same child. 



132 children's perceptions 

II. How the Work in Boys' and Girls' Schools 
May be Compared. 

Before attempting to summarize the results and 
compare them with those of the younger children, 
and before drawing attention to the comparative 
powers of boys and girls in work of this kind, I shall 
give an example from each class or standard. The 
results will subsequently be given in standard- 
groups and likewise in age-groups. Age in senior 
schools is not so useful a determinant in school grad- 
ing as it is in infant schools. For within any one 
school, the standard* gradings, provided they are 
made properly on a basis of general ability, are 
much more satisfactory than age gradings. But if 
one school is to be compared with another (these 
two departments, boys' and girls', are really sepa- 
rate schools in England) the standard gradings may 
well be dropped or made subordinate, and groups 
of corresponding ages substituted. In this case, 
comparing the work of boys with that of girls, the 
factor of social class may be ruled out ; for the boys 
and girls belong to the same families, live in the 
same neighborhood, and attend the same school. 
Both boys' and girls' departments are of good peda- 
gogical efficiency. In the work of the infants' schools 
previously given, I refrained from making compari- 
sons between the work of the boys and the work of 
the girls ; the risk due to sampling was, in my judg- 
ment, too great to allow of conclusions of high prob- 
ability; but no such risk attaches to the present in- 
vestigation. 

*The term 'standard' is here used in the English sense, the equiva- 
lent of a school grade in America. — Editor. 



THIED AND F0UETH SEEIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 133 

But there is a factor which may produce variation 
apart from the differing natural abilities of the boys 
and girls, namely, the differing sex of the teachers ; 
for the boys are taught by men, the girls by women. 
And it is well to have the relevant possibilities in 
mind before commencing the study of the detailed 
results of the work. 

The instances given will be chosen from work 
typical of each standard, and will consist of the 
work of children who are at what is considered in 
England to be about the normative age for the given 
standard or grade. 

III. The Woek of the Standaed II Boys 

AND GlELS. 

The illustrative work first given is that of Jessie 

I) , in Standard II, aged 8 years 3 months. The 

reports and answers are printed exactly as written, 
with all errors, orthographical and otherwise. 

Jessie D 's First Report. 

"In the picture that ive was looking at was a lit- 
tle boy on a chair eatting a slice of cake. On the 
table there is a knife the mother is standing by the 
right side of the table with a bowl between her hands. 
Beside the boys chair there is a green pot on the 
other side were the mother is standing ther is a 
brown flower pot with a lot of green leaves. The 
mother has a white lace bonit and a blue aprin with 
ivhite spots. The boy looks nice and kind, and the 
mother looks nice mid kind. They both look as if 
they both live happily to gether, and do not quorrel 
with one an other. The boy looks thin and the 



134 children's perceptions 

mother looks fat. I cannot tell you anything about 
the father because he is not their.'' 

Marking of Jessie D 's First Report. 

Esthetic and moral terms figure in this report, 
and Jessie provides the lady with a bonnet and an 
appropriately colored apron. Marks are given for 
the enumeration of 'little boy,' 'chair,' 'slice of cake,' 
'table,' 'knife,' 'mother,' 'bowl,' 'hands,' 'pot,' 
'flower-pot,' 'leaves,' 'apron;' a total of 12 marks. 

The boy is 'eating' and the mother is 'standing.' 
The positional references are as follow: the boy is 
'on' the chair; a knife is 'on' the table; the mother 
is standing 'by the right' of the table and the bowl 
is 'between' her hands; the pot is 'beside' the chair; 
the flower pot is 'on the other side,' the side 'where 
the mother is standing;' a total of 7. 

The descriptive qualifications are as follow: the 
pot is 'green;' the flower-pot is 'brown;' the leaves 
are 'green' and there are 'a lot' of them; the boy is 
'nice and kind;' the mother is 'nice and kind;' the 
mother looks 'fat;' the boy looks 'thin;' and they 
appear to live ' happily ; ' a total of 11 marks. 

Jessie D thus scores a total of 32 marks for 

her first report. 

Jessie D 's Second Report. 

"In the picture that ive were looking at was a 
lady on the right-hand side of the table ivith a bowl 
in her two hands. On a box beside the lady was a 
brown flower-pot. It didn't have any flowers but it 
had some green leaves. On the other side of the 
table was a little boy sitting on a chair. Beside the 



THIKD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 135 

boy's chair there is a green pot. On the table there 
is a knife. The mother has a black scourt [skirt] a 
blue aprin with white spots she has a lace bonit. The 
boy is eating a slice of cake. The door was wide 
open and the window was shut. The boy had a 
brown jacket and a brown coat and a brown waist- 
coat. And the boy is opening his mouth wide. The 
colour of the bowl is brown the colour of the bowl 
inside is a kind of yellowish white. The kind of cake 
that the boy is [eating] is yellow with currants. The 
cealing is paited blue. The knife has a yellow 
handle, the side in which you have to cut with is 
made of solid? silver. The lady has brown slipers. 
The boy has heavy lace up boots. The lady has grey 
hair and the little boy has brown hair. I cannot tell 
you anything about the mother and the little boy 
father, because he is not there." 

Marking of Jessie D 's Second Report. 

The influence of the preceding week's questioning 
seems obvious, but rather in the direction of induc- 
ing the child to make statements of some kind than 
in improving the accuracy; though, as the answers 
to the second set of questions will show, some ad- 
vance in accuracy has been made. The esthetic and 
moral judgments have disappeared, but there is 
more enumeration and descriptive qualifications of 
things than before. Of enumerations we have 23. 
Three actions are included: the boy is 'sitting* and 
'eating' and 'opening his mouth.' Of positional ref- 
erences there are 10. 

The descriptive qualifications are as follow: the 
flower-pot is 'brown;' the leaves are 'green;' the pot 



136 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



(jug) is 'green;' the bowl (the hemispherical loaf) 
is ' brown, ' and the inside of it is ' yellowish white ; ' 
the cutting part of the knife is 'silver' (it is hard to 
believe that the question stop after the word 'solid' 
in Jessie's report has its usual signification); and 
the boy has 'brown' hair; a total of 7 marks. 

For the second report, therefore, 43 marks are 
obtained, showing an improvement on the first report 
beyond the average for the children of this class. 





Jessie D — -'s First 


and Second Sets 
First Set of 


of Answers. 
Second Set of 




Questions. 


Answers. 


Answers. 


1. 


Which side of the table 
was the lady stand- 
ing? 


right side. 


The right side. 


2. 


What was she doing? 


Standing. 


holding a bowl. 


3. 


How was she holding 
what she had in her 
hand? 


With her hands. 


with her two hands. 


4. 


Had the lady anything 
else in her hands? 


No. 


No. 


5. 


What clothes was the 


A aprin. 


scuort, a brouce, a 




lady wearing? 




aprin, a bonit. 


6. 


What sort of a hat had 
she? 


a lace bonit. 


a lace bonit. 


7. 


What was she wearing 
on her feet? 


she had shoes. 


slippers on her feet. 


8. 


Could you see them? 


No. 


I could not. 


9. 


Had she a pinafore or 
apron on? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


10. 


Had she a frock on? 


Yes. 


Yes. 


11. 


What color was her 
blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 


red, white spots. 


blue. 


12. 


What color was her 
skirt? 


Hack. 


black skirt. 


13. 


What color was her 


blue white spots. 


blue white spots 




apron or pinafore? 




Aprin. 


14. 


What color were her 
boots or shoes? 


black. 


shoes black. 


15. 


What color was her hair? 


brown. 


gray hair. '•■ 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 137 



16. What was the boy do- 

ing? 

17. How was he holding 

what he had in his 
hand? 

18. Where were the boy's 

feet? 

19. What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 

20. What color was the 

boy's coat or jacket? 

21. What color were the 

boy's trousers or knick- 
erbockers ? 

22. What color were the 

boy's boots or shoes? 

23. What color were the 

boy's stockings? 

24. What color was his hair? 

25. What sort of boots had 

the boy? 

26. What sort of shoes had 

the boy? 

27. Did you see anything 

under the boy's chair? 

28. Did you see a jug or 

vase? 

29. What color was the jug 

or vase? 

30. Did you see anything on 

the floor near the jug 
or vase, and if you did, 
what was it? 

31. What color was the ta- 

ble? 

32. What else was there on 

the table beside the 
thing the lady was 
holding? 

33. Did you see a knife? 

34. Whereabouts on the ta- 

ble was it? 

35. What color was the 

knife? 

36. Did you see a flower- 

pot? 

37. Where was it? 



eating a slice of 

cake, 
with two hands. 


eating a slice of 

cake, 
with two hands. 


by the legs of the 

table. 
in a suet and trous- 

ers. 
brown. 


below the chair, 

gaket boots trous- 
ers waistcoat, 
brown jacket. 


brown trousers. 


brown trousers. 


black boots. 


black boots. 


black stockings. 


black stockings. 


brown hair, 
lace up boots. 


black hair, 
heavy boots. 


know shoes. 


no shoes. 


No. 


Yes. 


Yes. 


Yes. 


a green jug. 


green jug. 


No. 


No. 


a brown table. 


brown table. 


nothing else. 


a knife. 


Yes. 

by the boy. 


Yes. 

by the boy. 


yellow handle. 


yellow. 


Yes. 


Yes. 


on a box. 


on a box. 



138 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



38. What color were the 

flowers? 

39. How many flowers were 

there ? 

40. What color were the 

leaves? 
How many leaves were 

there ? 
What color was the 

flower-pot ? 
What color was the box? 
What did you see through 

the open window? 
45. What did you see through 

the open door? 
Did you see a window? 
What color were the 

walls of the room? 
What color was the car- 
pet? 

49. Did you see a carpet? 

50. What room was it? 



41. 
42. 

43. 

44. 



46. 
47. 

48. 



green flower. 

a nober [number]. 

green leaves. 

six leaves. 

brown flower-pot. 

yellow box. 
nothing. 

nothing. 

Yes. 

I do not know. 

I do not know. 

Yes. 

Kitchen room. 



no flowers. 

I do not no. 

green leaves . 

6 leaves. 

brown pot. 

yellow box. 
nothing. 

nothing. 

Yes. 

red walls. 

I do not know. 

Yes. 
Kitchen. 



Marking of Jessie D 's First and Second Sets of 

Answers. 

Very little comment is needed, but one general 
observation must be made. The answers to two of 
the position questions, the first one referring to the 
way in which the lady was holding the loaf and the 
second one to the way the boy was holding his piece 
of bread, were almost invariably wrong; and the 
question arose whether this was due to the difficulty 
of writing down an intelligible and accurate answer. 
To test this point, a large sample was taken from 
several classes, and the children were questioned 
separately one by one. In one or two ( !) cases only 
did the child know the answers, though even then 
unable apparently to express them in writing. The 
marks for the first set of answers total 25, and for 



THIKD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 139 

the second set of answers 26. If these are average 
marks, as they are, for girls of this age, it is quite 
obvious that for the observation of such a picture 
as the one given, which we may call a domestic in- 
terior, the 8-year-old child is no further forward 
than 5-year-old children — indeed, is less forward. 
But, of course, there are two conditions of the 
method which render exact comparison impossible; 
the older children had to write their answers and 
they wrote them on the day following their report 
and not immediately after it, whereas the younger 
children had their answers written for them and 
gave their first set of answers immediately after 
their first report. I emphasize once more these dif- 
ferences in conditions because they would usually be 
supposed to make a considerable difference to the 
accuracy of the answers. Personally, I think their 
influence is slight. Children often remember more 
the day, or several days, after an experience (if 
they have given much attention to it) than they do 
immediately after the actual experience; and the 
rate at which the questions were asked and the an- 
swers written gave little opportunity for manual 
fatigue, though there is necessarily some dispersal 
of attention caused by the writing process. Fatigue 
due to writing is much more likely to operate in the 
reports; but in the capacity to report, the 8-year- 
old children are found superior to the 5-year-old 
children, and, indeed, superior in their first report 
to the 7-year-old children of School A. I briefly dis- 
cuss these possibilities at this juncture because any- 
one who reads Jessie D 's work, even hurriedly, 

will be struck by the absence of that improvement 



140 children's perceptions 

with age which the preceding illustrations, as well as 
the tabulated figures previously given, will by now 
have led him to expect. Some of Jessie's answers 
call for special comment. The knife came in more 
decidedly the second week, but she had apparently 
noticed it the first week, unless placing it by the 
boy was a 'lucky shot.' She did not know the color 
of the handle, but by this time no reader will sup- 
pose that a thing has not been seen because its color 
is not remembered, and of course the knife is more 
likely to be by the lady, for it is she who cuts the 
cake, though the boy is 'eating' it. The color of the 
bodice was rightly given the second week, though 
wrongly the week before; but the color of the hair, 
which was given as 'brown' both for the woman and 
the boy at the first interrogation, became 'black' for 
the boy and 'gray' for the woman the week after. 
Colors, badly observed, appear to be insecurely re- 
membered, which is precisely what we should expect 
on general psychological principles. The woman's 
clothes were more accurately given the second week 
than the first — an improvement which may have 
been due to the suggestive influence of the questions 
of the first interrogatory. 

Jessie D 's Self Correction. 

"I said the flower-pot was brown and it is red. 1 
said there ivas not any flowers and there is three. 
I said the lady's hair was grey and it is brown." 

Marking of Jessie D 's Self -Correction. 

Though 'brown' has been allowed as a correct de- 
scription of the color of the flower-pot, 'red' is ac- 
cepted as a self-correction. The remaining correc- 



THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 141 

tions are three in number ; one as to the existence of 
the flowers, one as to their number — a correction of 
omission, and one as to the color of the woman's 
hair which was wrongly classed in the second in- 
terrogatory, though rightly given the week before. 
Jessie obtains 4 marks for self-correction, slightly 
less than the 5-year-old average for School A. 

TABLE XII. 
Scores of the Standard II Children, Both Sexes, School C. 



bo bo 

g -O+S T3 g 



. , mX »n °o °« nir 

Average Age. t. §■ £-g g g 1 g-g Hg 

Yrs. Mths. faei Ehm wtf raw mo 

34 Girls 8 10.9 Aver. Mark 32.4 24.3 34.5 25.3 5.0 

Mean Variation 7.7 2.8 7.0 3.8 1.8 

Coefficient of Variability.. .24 .12 .20 .15 .36 

49 Boys 8 11.3 Aver. Mark 24.2 24.8 24.6 25.4 3.9 

Mean Variation 7.0 5.0 7.2 5.0 1.8 

Coefficient of Variability.. .29 .20 .29 .20 .46 

Comments on Table XII. 
Though the boys in Standard II are older than the 
girls, there is little doubt that the girls show greater 
superiority in reporting and self-correction, whilst 
in their capacity to answer questions on what they 
had seen, the average marks of boys and girls are 
practically identical, though amongst the boys this 
capacity is much more variable. Where the average 
marks are so nearly alike it will be necessary to com- 
pare by age-groupings rather than by standard- 
groupings, and this will be done later compendiously 
in a single table ; but it may be said at once that, at 
this age, the linguistic development of the girls 
seems superior to that of the boys, though there is 
practically no difference in their powers of observa- 
tion as measured by the capacity shown in their in- 
terrogatories. 



142 children's perceptions 

IV. The "Work of the Standard III Boys and 
Girls. 

I give one complete set of papers, choosing on this 
occasion, the work of a boy ; after which, the average 
marks of the boys and girls will be given in a com- 
parative table as before. The work selected for il- 
lustrative purposes is that of John S , aged 9 

years 4 months. 

John 8 f s First Spontaneous Report. 

"A little boy is sitting on a chair near a table, 
and his mother is giving him some food. Under the 
table their is a vase. The door is open and by it there 
is a box and on the box is a floiver-pot with a plant- 
in it. On the table is a knife. The house is made of 
ivood. The lady is rather tall. On the floor is the 
little boy's books with something binding it." 

Marking of John S 's First Report. 

It is quite obviously better work than the average 
work of the Standard II boys, and is given in notably 
concise form, which is rather characteristic of boys 
than of girls ; but its brevity is accompanied by dis- 
tinct poverty of material, and its conciseness is jerky. 
It looks as if John had very little to say and not 
that he was choosing wisely from an abundance of 
material. The report is weak in every respect. For 
enumeration of persons and things John receives 14 
marks. The only action correctly noted is that the 
boy is ' sitting. ' The positional references carry 7 
marks. There are a few qualifications: the lady is 
'tall;' and 'rather' yields an additional modifica- 



THIKD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 143 

tion; and something is 'binding' the books; a mark 
is also given for the material qualification 'made of 
wood.' In allJohn obtains 26 marks. 

John S 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

11 A hoy was sitting on a chair near a table, and 
his mother was giving him some bread. Under the 
table was a vase, and on the flour [floor] was a book. 
The door was open and by it was a box, and on the 
box was a flower-pot with a plant in it. The window 
was open. The lady was wearing a blouse, an apron, 
and a skirt. On the table was a knife. The lady ivas 
going to cut some bread, and the boy ivas eating a 
piece of bread and butter. The vase was a green one. 
The plant in the flower-pot on the box had several 
leaves on it. The boy had his feet on one of the 
rails of the chair. The boy was wearing a pair of 
shoes." 

Marking of John S 's Second Report. 

It is obvious that the questions have influenced 
many of the statements, and that there is a consid- 
erable improvement on the work of the previous 
week; but also noticeable is the exact repetition of 
some of the sentences of the first report. 

Marks for enumeration total 19. 

The boy was 'sitting' and 'eating' bread. That 
the mother was 'giving him bread,' or 'just going to 
cut bread' were not regarded as observed activities. 
Of course, strictly speaking, no activity in a motion- 
less picture can be other than an inferred activity, 
but the inferences in these cases were considered too 
far away from their observational basis. 



144 children's perceptions 

The positional references are 10 in number. 

There is only one correct qualification: the vase 
is rightly described as 'green.' Hence, 32 marks 
are obtained for John's second report — an improve- 
ment of 6 on his previous week's report. 

John S 's First and Second Sets of Answers. 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

1. Which side of the table The right side. On the right side. 

was the lady stand- 
ing? 

2. What was she doing? She was giving the Cutting a piece of 

boy some food. bread. 

3. How was she holding She was holding it Between her hands. 

what she had in her between her 
hand? hands. 

4. Had the lady anything No. No. 

in her hands besides 
the thing you have told 
me about? 

5. What clothes was the An apron and a A pinafore, a skirt, 

lady wearing? blouse and a and a blouse, 

skirt. 

6. What sort of a hat had I don't no. I don't no. 

she? 

7. What was she wearing A pair of shoes. I don't no. 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? Yes. No. 

9. Had she a pinafore or an A apron. An apron. 

apron on? 

10. Had she a frock on? Yes. Yes. 

11. What color was her / don't no. I don't no. 

blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 

12. What color was her Her skirt was Blue. 

skirt? black. 

13. What color was her White. White. 

apron or pinafore? 

14. What color was her / don't no. I don't no. 

boots or shoes? 

15. What color was her hair? Black. Black. 

16. What was the boy do- Eating a piece of Eating a piece of 

ing? bread and butter. bread. 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 145 



Questions. 



First Set of 

Answers. 



17. 

18. 
19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 
25. 

26. 

27. 

28. 

29. 

30. 

31. 
32. 

33. 

34. 

35. 

36. 



He had something in his Between two fin- 
hand ; how was he gers. 
holding it? 



Where were the boy's 

feet? 
What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 

What color was the 
boy's coat or jacket? 

What color were the 
boy's trousers or knick- 
ers? 

What color were the 
boy's boots or shoes? 

What color were the 
boy's stockings? 

What color was his hair? 

What sort of boots had 
the boy? 

What sort of shoes had 
he? 

Did you see anything 
under the boy's chair? 

Did you see a jug or 
vase? 

What color was the jug 
or vase? 

Did you see anything on 
the floor near the jug 
or vase, and if you did, 
what was it? 

What color was the ta- 
ble? 

What else was there on 
the table beside the 
thing the lady was 
holding? 

Did you see a knife? 

Whereabouts on the ta- 
ble was it? 

What color was the 
knife? 

Did you see a flower- 
pot? 



On one of the rails 
of the chair. 

Trowers, toots, 
coat and waste- 
coat. 

Grey. 

Grey. 



Black. 

Black stockings. 

I don't no. 
I don't no. 

I don't no. 

A vase, yes. 

A vase. 

Green. 

Yes. 

white. 
A knife. 

Yes. 

At the edge. 

Black. 

Yes. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 

Between a finger 

and a thumb 
(shoioed wrongly 

when asked). 
On the rail of the 

chair. 
A wastcoat, a pair 

of trowsers and 

a coat. 
Black. 

Black. 



Black. 

Black. 

I don't no. 
I don't no. 

I don't no. 

Yes. 

Yes, a vase. 

A green vase. 

Yes. 

I don't no. 
A knife. 

Yes. 

On the edge. 

Black. 
Yes. 



146 



CHILDEEN S PEKCEPTIONS 



Questions. 

37. Where was the flower- 

pot? 

38. What color were the 

flowers ? 

39. How many flowers were 

there? 

40. What color were the 

leaves? 

41. How many leaves were 

there? 

42. What color was the 

flower-pot? 

43. What color was the box? 

44. What did you see through 

the open window? 

45. What did you see through 

the open door? 

46. Did you see a window? 

47. What color were the 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- 

pet? 

49. Did you see a carpet? 

50. What room was it? 



First Set of 

Answers. 

On a box. 
I don't no. 
I don't no. 
Green. 
I don't no. 



Second Set of 

Answers. 

On a box. 

Green. 

I don't no. 

The leaves were 

green. 
Four. 



The flower-pot was Green. 

red and green. 
The box was white. White. 
I did not see any- Nothing. 

thing. 
Nothing. 



Yes. 

I don't no. 

I don't no. 

No. 

I don't no. 



Nothing. 

Yes. 

I don't no. 

They hadn't got a 

carpet. 
No. 

The kitchen. 



Marking of John S 's First and Second Sets of 

Answers. 

The answers are poor and rather below the aver- 
age for the grade or standard in which the boy is 
classed. He obtains 24 marks for the first week and 
25 the second week. John's characteristic answer 
is "I don't no." This answer may very well be 
typical of a boy who refuses to guess and demands 
a distinct memory before he will venture on an asser- 
tion ; but it may also, as in the present case, be found 
a very present help in trouble when the boy is rather 
stupid and knows very little. A good guess in itself 
implies much previous accurate observation, though 
it may not be applicable to the present case. When 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 147 

John does guess, he sometimes guesses very badly, 
as when he calls the flower-pot 'red and green' the 
first week and ' green' the week after. His written 
answer the second week appeared to indicate that he 
had observed how the boy was holding his piece of 
bread, but a request to show the way the boy was 
holding it made it evident that he did not know. The 
accuracy of these interrogations is distinctly below 
that of the average of the 5-year-old infant-school 
children. 

John S 's Self-Correction. 

"1 said there was a window and there is not. I 
said there was no carpet and there is a carpet. I 
said there were four leaves and there is five. I said 
the boy had a black coat and he has a green coat. I 
said the boy had a black pair of trousers and he has 
a pare of red trousers. I said the boy had black hair 
and he has yellow. I said the boy had black stockings 
and he has blue. I said the lady had a white apron 
and she has a red one.' 1 

Marking of John S 's Self -Corrections. 

There are 6 quite obvious corrections, but the as- 
sertion of the carpet is a new error, and the altera- 
tion of 'four' leaves into 'five' is a curious blunder, 
as it is obvious that the boy, who is 9 years old, had 
actually looked at the leaves to ascertain their num- 
ber at this final exposure of the picture. 

Comments on Table XIII. 

The First Report of the Standard III girls is, un- 
fortunately, not a reliable index of their capacity 
for reporting what they have seen ; for recently, be- 



148 children's perceptions 

fore the experiment commenced, they had received a 
lesson in writing a story about a picture, and several 
girls had been influenced by that lesson and had not 
understood that they were required to report on 
what they had seen, and not to write a story about it. 
Doubtless, this attitude towards the picture some- 
what influenced their capacity to answer questions 
on it ; and that the low mark for the first report was 
principally due to misunderstanding is indicated by 
the mark obtained by the girls for their second re- 
ports. There is a decided advance on the work of 
the Standard II children, both of the boys and girls, 
and the same relationships subsist between the work 
of the boys and girls as was found previously. In 
their capacity to answer the interrogatories and in 
self-correction the boys and girls are practically the 
same, whilst in their power of reporting the girls are 
much superior. It is, however, important to note 
that the boys of this class (or standard) average 5 
months older than the girls. And we may again 
profitably note that the marks are lower than those 
of the infant-school children. 

TABLE XIII. 

Scores of the Standard III Children, Both Sexes, School O. 



34 Girls 
42 Boys 











t-i 
o 




u 
© 












■w 






p 










Cj 




cS 


© 










M 




bo 




Average Age 






"a 


o 

S-i -*-» 


-a+s 

a " 

H 


© <D 
CJ-t-J 


s5& 


Yrs. Mths. 








S3 




0) a 


02U 


9 9.9 






28.2 


25.1 


45.2 


27.9 


4.9 




Mean Variation 




9.1 


4.6 


8.2 


5.0 


1.3 




Coefficient of Yaria 


bility.. 


.32 


.18 


.18 


.18 


.27 


10 2.9 






27.4 


26.5 


35.6 


28.3 


5.5 




Mean Variation 




5.4 


4.2 


8.5 


3.6 


2.0 




Coefficient of Variability.. 


.19 


.16 


.24 


.13 


.36 



THIRD AND FOUETH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 149 

V. The Work of the Standard IV Boys and Girls. 

The work of this grade will be illustrated by the 

papers of Charles B , aged 10 years 7 months, 

whose marks were slightly below the average mark 
for his class. 

Charles B 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"In the picture there is a woman and her son,. 
There is a chair and table, and on the table is a 
knife. In the chair sits a boy eating some bread and 
butter. Underneath the chair is an earthernware 
jug. The door is half open. On the floor is a book 
with a bookmarker to keep the page. The walls of 
the house are a pale green. The floor is brown. The 
woman has brown hair and wears a pink coloured 
dress. She also wears a green coloured blouse. By 
the open door is a plant which looks like a geranium. 
It is planted in a red flower-pot, and is situated on 
a pile of bricks which form a square. The bricks are 
colour red. On the table there is a loaf of bread- 
The jug underneath the chair in which the boy is 
sitting is broken. The book marker is coloured 
black." 

Marking of Charles B 's First Report. 

This is a clearly written report, and looks as if 
it had been prepared in answer to our interroga- 
tories; but the true relationship is an inverse one; 
the questions were, of course, largely determined by 
the children's spontaneous reports. 

There are enumerative marks for 'woman,' 'chair,' 
'table,' 'knife,' 'boy,' 'bread,' 'jug,' 'floor,' 'book' 



150 children's perceptions 

(the satchel), 'bookmarker' (the supports of the 
satchel), ' walls,' 'hair,' 'dress,' 'blouse,' 'plant,' 
'geranium,' 'flower-pot,' 'pile of bricks' (the box), 
and ' loaf ; ' a total of 20. 

The boy 'sits' and 'is eating.' 

The positional references number nine. There are 
several accurate qualifications, 7 in all. Twice 
Charles calls blue by the name of 'green' and calls 
the blue dress 'pink;' though this latter error may 
be due to confusion with the color of the apron. 

Thirty-eight marks are scored by the first report. 

Charles B 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"In the picture there is a lady and her son. The 
boy is sitting on a chair. He has a piece of bread in 
his hands. Underneath the chair is a broken jug. 
The boy has blue trousers and a green jacket. The 
lady is standing at the right side of the table. In her 
hand she holds a knife, and in the other she holds a 
loaf. She wears a blue skirt. Her hair is brown. 
On her feet she wears brown slippers. She also 
wears an apron which is white. The door is open. 
There is no window. By the door is a pile of bricks. 
On top of the bricks is a geraineum. The plant is 
planted in a red pot. On the floor is a book with a 
book marker in it. It lies with its back on the floor. 
On the table is a knife. Underneath the table is a 
broken jug." 

Marking of Charles B 's Second Report. 

Charles has written a very clear report, closely 
resembling his first one. 
Enumerative items admit a total of 21 marks. 



THIED AND FOUETH SEEIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 151 

The knife appears twice, and so does the jug; in each 
case once placed rightly and once wrongly. 

There are 2 references to action and 14 to position. 

The correct qualifications are as follows : the jug 
is 'broken;' the boy's jacket is 'green;' the lady's 
skirt is 'blue;' and her hair 'brown;' the flower-pot 
is ' red : ' — a total of 5. 

Charles scores 42 marks for his second report, 
which is 3.5 less than the average for his class 
(standard) and one mark less than the average mark 
of the 7-year-old children of School A. 



Charles B- 



-'s First and Second Sets of Answers. 



Questions. 

1. Which side of the table 

was the lady stand- 
ing? 

2. What was she doing? 

3. How was she holding 

what she had in her 
hand? 

4. Had the lady anything 

else in her hand be- 
side what you have 
told me about? 

5. What clothes was the 

lady wearing? 

6. What sort of a hat had 

the lady? 

7. What was she wearing 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? 

9. Had she a pinafore or 

apron on? 

10. Had she a frock on? 

11. What color was her 

blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 

12. What color was her 

skirt? 



First Set of 

Answers. 



Right. 



Cutting bread. 
In her left hand. 



Yes. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 

Right. 



Cut some oread. 
In her right hand. 

Yes. 



Blouse and skirt. 


A blouse and skirt. 


She had no hat. 


None. 


Shoes. 


Slippers. 


Yes. 
Apron. 


Yes. 
Yes. 


No, she had a 
blouse and skirt. 
Creen. 


No, she had a 

blouse and skirt, 
blouse blue. 


Pink. 


Skirt blue. 



152 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 







Fibst Set of 


Second Set of 




Questions. 


Answers. 


Answers. 


13. 


What color was her 


White. 


Apron white. 




apron or pinafore? 






14. 


What color were her 
boots or shoes? 


Brown. 


Shose brown. 


15. 


What color was her hair ? 


Hair Brown. 


Hair Brown. 


16. 


What was the boy do- 


Eating. 


Eating. 



ing? 

17. He had something in his 

hand ; how was he 
holding it? 

18. Where were the boy's 

feet? 

19. What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 

20. What color was the boy's 

coat or jacket? 

21. What color were the 

boy's trousers or knick- 
ers? 

22. What color were the 

boy's boots or shoes? 

23. What color were the 

boy's stockings? 

24. What color was his hair? 

25. What sort of boots had 

the boy? 

26. What sort of shoes had 

he? 

27. Did you see anything 

under the boy's chair? 

28. Did you see a jug or 

vase? 

29. What color was the jug 

or vase? 

30. Did you see anything on 

the floor near the jug 
or vase, and if so, 
what was it? 

31. What color was the ta- 

ble? 

32. What else was on the 

table beside the thing 
that the lady was 
holding? 

33. Did you see a knife? 

34. Whereabouts on the ta- 

ble was it? 



Up to his mouth. Up to his mouth. 



On the chair. 

Blouse and knick- 
ers. 
Coat, light blue. 


On the rungs of 

the chair. 
Trousers and 

jacket. 
Boy's coat, blue. 


Light blue. 


Trousers green. 


Brown. 


Boys' shose brown. 


Black. 

Hair, brown. 
Brown. 


Boys' stockings 

black, 
boys' hair black. 
Shoes black. 


He had boots. 


Black. 


Yes. 


Yes. 


A jug. 


Yes. 


Brown. 


jug, brown. 


Yes, a book. 


Yes, a book. 


White. 


Table Brown. 


A loaf. 


Knife. 


Yes. 

In the middle. 


Yes. 
Middle. 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 153 



Questions. 



First Set of 
Answers. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 



the White, what you handle yellow, 
cut with. 



35. What color w 

knife? 

36. Did you see a flower- Yes. Yes. 

pot? 

37. Where was it? by the door. by the door. 

38. What color were the Yellow. Yelloio flowers. 

flowers? 

39. How many flowers were three. about a dozen. 

there? 

40. What color were the Green. leaves green. 

leaves? 

41. How many leaves were Half-a-dozen. A lot. 

there? 

42. What color was the Red. flower-pot Red. 

fl6wer-pot ? 

43. What color was the box? Pale Brown. box light brown. 

44. What did you see through Trees. no icindow. 

the open window? 

45. What did 5 ou see through Trees. The garden. 

the open door? 

46. Did you see a window? No. No. 

47. What color were the Pale brown. Walls white. 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- No carpet. no carpet. 

pet? 

49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 

50. What room was it? Kitchen. Kitchen. 

Marking of Charles B 's Answers. 

Charles obtains 26 marks for his first interroga- 
tory and 30 for his second. This mark is slightly 
below the average mark for his class for the first, 
and almost identical with the average mark for the 
second set of answers. The work is at the same level 
as that of the 5-year-old children of School A, and 
decidedly below that of the 5-year-old children of 
School B. His answer to Question 10 is not re- 
garded as correct; for though 'blouse' has been ac- 
cepted in the answer to Question 6, provided that 
apron or pinafore and skirt have been noted as well, 



154 children's perceptions 

and accepted on the ground that a knowledge of the 
distinction between a lady's blouse and the upper 
part of her frock is not possessed by many children, 
yet this boy clearly does distinguish and does so 
wrongly. He accepts erroneous suggestions less 
easily the second week (Questions 25, 26, 44), but 
his flowers and leaves increase in number and are 
more inaccurately remembered (Questions 39 and 
41) ; his colors, contrary to the general tendency, are 
^lightly more accurately remembered the .second 
week than the first. 

Charles B 's Self Correction. 

Charles at first wrote that the picture now ex- 
hibited was 'A different picture,' and wrote no 
more; but, on being assured that the picture was 
really the picture that he had seen 8 days before, 
wrote the following corrections of his reports and 
interrogatories. 

"I thought her apron was white, but it is red. I 
thought his coat was blue, but it is green. The walls 
are gray and I thought they were brown. His 
trousers are red I thought they were green. The 
lady is dressed in blue but I thought she was dressed 
in green. The plant is on a box. I thought it was on 
some bricks." 

Marking of Charles B 's Self -Correction. 

The first four corrections are quite clear. Green 
and pink were given as the colors of the woman's 
dress in the first interrogatory, but corrected in the 
second (Questions 11 and 12) ; a mark, however, is 
allowed on the ground that the wrong assertion had 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 155 

been made and was now corrected. ' ' Pile of bricks ' ' 
has been accepted as a reasonable identification of 
the box in the corner; but as it is more like a box 
than a pile of bricks, the last sentence about the box 
and bricks is accepted as a correction. Charles re- 
ceives 6 marks for self-correction, which is slightly 
higher than the average mark for his standard 
(class) and slightly lower than that of the 5-year-old 
children of School B. 

TABLE XIV. 

SCOBES OF THE StANDABD IV CHILDBEN, BOTH SEXES, SCHOOL O. 



Yrs. Mths. *j| £g §| gg ^8 

Average Age. &.CJ fc« xtiA oq~ ku 

64 Girls 10 9.5 Aver. Mark 42.5 29.0 49.8 30.2 6.3 

Mean Variation 10.6 4.0 12.3 3.1 1.8 

Coefficient of Variability.. .25 .14 .25 .10 .29 

41 Boys 11 1.2 Aver. Mark 39.6 28.5 44.5 29.7 5.4 

Mean Variation 8.2 3.4 8.2 3.5 1.6 

Coefficient of Variability.. .21 .12 .18 .12 .30 

Comments on Table XIV. 

There is a distinct advance in all respects upon 
the work of the Standard III children, and, so far 
as reporting is concerned, the work of the infant- 
school children has now been surpassed, but in the 
interrogatories the infant-school children still more 
than hold their own. In comparing the work of 
the boys and the girls it is important to note the 
greater age of the boys in this standard, since there 
are indications that the girls are forging ahead of 
the boys in their capacity to answer questions on 
what they have observed, as indeed is clearly found 
to be the case when boys and girls of the same age 



156 children's perceptions 

are compared. "We have already seen reason to be- 
lieve that, in their power of reporting, the girls, 
standard for standard, are in advance of the boys ; 
and the present result strengthens that belief. 

VI. The Work op the Standard V Boys and Girls. 

The work of this standard will be illustrated by 

means of a girl's papers, worked by Connie T , 

aged 11 years 9 months. The papers are slightly 
above the average of those worked in the Standard 
V girls' class. 

Connie T 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"In the picture I saiv a little boy and Ms mother. 
His mother was holding a coco-nut. She had cut a 
piece out and he was eating it. A knife was on the 
table with a black handle. The little boy's mother 
had brown hair, and so had the boy. The little boy 
had a red blouse and blue knickers on. The door of 
the house was open and was painted brown. The 
boy ivas sitting at a table which was painted brown. 
He was sitting on a brown chair and the part of the 
chair that is used for sitting on had holes in it. The 
little boy had socks on which were brown and black 
shoes. His hair was short and a little bit curly. By 
the door was a box with a dark red pot on it. In the 
pot was a geranum with a red blossom. The mould 
tvas very black and looked rich looking mould. The 
box on which it was standing was a light brown. In 
the picture there were no pictures hanging on the 
floor there were bare boards. The little boy and his 
mother were dressed nicely. There was on the floor 
a book with a red cover and the leaves were white 



THIRD AND FOURTH SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 157 

the book ivas broken a little. The mother had a white 
apron on and she was not very tall and not very 
short." 

Marking of Connie T 's First Report. 

It is quite obvious that this report represents a 
considerable advance on those previously given. 

Enumerative marks are given for * little boy,' 
'mother,' 'cocoanut' (the hemispherical loaf of 
bread), 'piece' (the bread which the boy was holding), 
'knife,' 'table,' 'handle' (of the knife), 'hair' (the 
mother's), 'hair' (the boy's), 'blouse,' 'knickers,' 
'door,' 'chair,' 'part of the chair used for sitting 
on,' 'holes' (in the seat of the chair), 'shoes,' 'box,' 
'pot,' 'geranium,' 'blossom,' 'room,' 'floor,' 'book,' 
'cover' (of the book), 'leaves' (of the book), 'legs' 
(of the table), and 'apron:' a total of 27. 

The woman is 'holding' the cocoanut and the boy 
is 'eating' and 'sitting.' 

A knife was 'on' the table; the door was 'open'; 
the boy was 'at' the table 'on' a chair; there were 
holes 'in' the seat of the chair; a box was 'by' the 
door with a pot 'on' it; and there was a book 'on' 
the floor ; a total of 8 positional references. 

Connie is very successful with her qualifications: 
the handle of the knife was 'black;' the woman's 
hair was 'brown;' the boy's hair was 'brown;' the 
door was 'brown;' the chair was 'brown;' the boy's 
shoes were 'black;' his hair was 'short' and 'curly,' 
'a little bit;' the pot was 'dark red,' and the blossom 
of the plant was 'red;' the box was 'light brown;' 
the floor was 'bare;' both the woman and the boy 
were dressed 'nicely' (two marks) ; the cover of the 



158 children's perceptions 

book was 'red,' and ' broken' 'a little;' the table bad 
'four' legs; the lady was of 'medium' height (not 
very tall and not very short) : thus scoring a total 
of 20 marks. 

Fifty-eight marks are thus obtained for the first 
report. 

Connie T 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"In the picture there ivas a little boy and his 
mother. The mother was holding a cocoa-nut. The 
little boy ivas holding a piece of cocoa-nut and eating 
it, it was a piece that had been cut out of the cocoa- 
nut. The mother had light brown hair. She had a 
blue blouse and a black skirt and ivhite apron. Her 
shoes were just peeping out of her skirt and they 
were black. The little boys hair was light brown 
and he had a blue blouse and red knickers. He also 
had blue socks and brown shoes. He ivas sitting back 
on a cane chair, which was brown. There was a table 
in the room which was light brown it had four legs. 
On the table was a knife with a brown handle. There 
was also a door which ivas open. By the door there 
was a light brown box. On the box there ivas a 
flower-pot. The flower-pot was dark red. There 
ivas some rich-looking mould in the flower-pot. In 
the pot there was a geranium. The flower was red 
and there ivas five flowers and seven leaves. Some 
of the leaves were green and some yellow. There 
was on the floor by the chair a book which had a red 
cover and was bound in black, it was broken a little. 
The walls were black. It looked like the kitchen and 
it was badly furnished. There was no lino on the 
floor." 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 159 

Marking of Connie T 's Second Report. 

Again we have a full and clear report, very like 
the first one, but influenced here and there by the 
questions of the first interrogatory. Enumerative 
marks are obtained for 31 items. 

The mother was 'holding' the cocoa-nut; the little 
boy was 'holding' a piece of the cocoa-nut, was 'eat- 
ing' it, and 'sitting' on a chair. There are also 10 
references to position and 18 qualifications. 

Connie T thus scores 62 marks for her second 

report. It is very doubtful whether anything is to 
be seen in the flower-pot which is distinguishable as 
mould at all; it is quite certain that nothing can be 
seen to indicate that it is rich mould. 





Connie T 's First 


and Second 


Sets 


of Answers. 






First Set 


OF 


Second Set of 




Questions. 


Answers, 




Answers. 


1. 


Which side of the table 
was the lady standing? 


Right side. 




Right side. 


2. 


What was the lady do- 


Holding a cocoa- 


Looking at the boy. 




ing? 


nut. 






3. 


How was she holding 


Holding it to 


the 


In her two hands 




what she had in her 


boy. 




{showed wrong- 




hand? 






h). 


4. 


Had the lady anything 
else in her hand be- 
sides what you have 
told me about? 


No. 




No. 


5. 


What clothes was the 


Blouse and sJcirt. 


Blouse and skirt. 




lady wearing? 








6. 


What sort of a hat had 
she? 


Nurse's cap. 




A nurse's cap. 


7. 


What was she wearing 
on her feet? 


Black shoes. 




shoes. 


8. 


Could you see her feet? 


No. 




Yes, the tips of her 
black shoes. 


9. 


Had she a pinafore or 
apron on? 


Yes. 




Yes. 


10. 


Had she a frock on? 


Yes. 




Yes. 



160 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



Questions. 

11. What color was her 

blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 

12. What color was her 

skirt? 

13. What was the color of 

her apron or pina- 
fore? 

14. What color were her 

boots or shoes? 

15. What color was her hair ? 

16. What was the boy doing? 

17. He had something in his 

hand; how was he 
holding it, 

18. Where were the boy's 

feet? 

19. What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 

20. What color was the boy's 

coat or jacket? 

21. What color were his 

trousers or knickers? 

22. What color were the 

boy's boots or shoes? 

23. What color were his 

stockings ? 

24. What color was his hair? 

25. What sort of boots had 

the boy? 

26. What sort of shoes had 

he? 

27. Did you see anything un- 

der the boy's chair? 

28. Did you see a jug or 

vase? 

29. What color was the jug 

or vase? 

30. Did you see anything on 

the floor near the jug 
or vase, and if you did, 
what was it? 

31. What color was the ta- 

ble? 



First Set of 


Second Set of 


Answers. 


Answers. 


Blue blouse. 


Blue. 


Black skirt. 


Black. 


White apron. 


White. 


Black shoes. 


Black shoes. 


Lightish brown 


Light brown. 


hair. 




Eating a piece of 


Eating a cocoa-nut. 


cocoa-nut. 




Between thumb and 


Between his finger 


four fingers. 


and thumb 




(showed wrong- 




ly). 


Hanging by the 


Leaning on the 


chair. 


chair. 


Blue blouse and red 


Blouse and knick- 


knickers. 


ers. 


Blue blouse. 


Blue blouse. 


red knickers. 


Black. 


Black shoes. 


black. 


Black stockings. 


Black. 


Light Brown. 


Light Brown. 


Slippers. 


Slippers. 


I forget. 


black ones. 


No. 


No. 


No. 


No. 


I forget. 


There was not a 




jug at all. 


Yes, a book. 


Yes (see second re- 




port). 



Brown. 



Brown. 



THIKD AND FOUKTH SERIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 161 



Questions. 



First Set of 

Answers. 



32. What else was there on A knife. 

the table beside what 
the lady was holding? 

33. Did you see a knife? Yes. 

34. Whereabouts on the ta- Near the boy. 

ble was it? 

35. What color was the Brown handle. 

knife? 

36. Did you see a flower- Yes. 

pot? 

37. Whereabouts was it? 



38 



were the 



What color 
flowers ? 

39. How many flowers were 

there? 

40. What color were the 

leaves? 

41. How many leaves were 

there? 

42. What color was the 
flower-pot? 

What color was the box? 

What did you see through 
the open window? 

What} did you see through 
the open door? 

Did you see a window? 

What color were the 
walls of the room? 

What color was the car- 
pet? 

Did you see a carpet? 



43. 
44. 

45. 

46. 
47. 

48. 

49. 



50. What room was it? 



On a box near the 

window. 
Red flowers. 

5. 

Some green, some 
yellow. 

7. 

Red. 

Brown. 
Nothing. 

Nothing. 

Yes. 

Black walls. 

There was not any 

carpet. 
No. 
Kitchen. 



Second Set of 

Answers. 

A knife. 



Yes. 

Near the mother. 

Light brown han- 
dle. 



On the box by the 

window. 
Red flowers. 

Five flowers. 

Some green, some 

yellow. 
Severn leaves. 

Dark red flower 

pot. 
Light brown box. 
Nothing. 

Nothing. 

No. 
Black. 

There icas not any. 

No. 
Kitchen. 



Marking of Connie T '5 First and Second Sets 

of Answers. 

In the first interrogatory Connie obtains marks 
for 31 correct answers, and in the second 32 ; in each 
case abont two or three marks lower than the aver- 
age for the grade or standard. The two sets of an- 
swers are almost identical. She was not snre, on 



162 CHILDREN^ PERCEPTION'S 

the first time of asking, that the lady's feet were 
visible; but, by the second week, remembered that 
the tips of her shoes could be seen (Question 8). 
Also by the second week she was quite sure that 
there was no window; the position of the boy's legs 
seemed clearer too after the lapse of time; but the 
question as to the color of the boy's knickers, rightly 
answered a day after the observation, was forgotten 
a week afterwards ; although the day before, in her 
second report, she had stated that they were red. 
The handle of the knife was 'brown' the first week, 
which is a fair description, but 'light brown' the sec- 
ond week, which is certainly wrong. 

These interrogations are at about the same level 
as those of the 6-year-old infants of School A. 

Connie T 's 8 elf -Correction. 

"I said the lady had a Mack shirt and she had a 
blue one. I said the lady had a white apron and it is 
red. I said there ivas not a jug under the chair and 
there is a green one. I said the booh was bound in 
blach and it is bound in red. I said the boy had a 
blue suit and he has a green blouse. I said there 
were seven leaves and there are nine. I said there 
ivere five flowers and there are three. I said the 
leaves were green and they have some blach in them. 
I said the little boy had blach stochings and he has 
blue. I said the lady had light brown hair and she 
has darh brown hair. I said it was a brown-handled 
hnife and it is a blach-handled hnife." 

Marhing of Connie T — — 's 8 elf -Correction. 
Most of these corrections, numbering 11 alto- 
gether, are quite clear and definite. Two marks are 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 163 

obtained for the correction about the jug; its exist- 
ence, formerly denied, is now asserted, and its color, 
necessarily omitted, is now given. I am doubtful 
whether the woman's hair ought to be called dark 
brown or light brown, but the girl's assertion that 
light brown is wrong is accepted as a correction. 
It is also very doubtful whether the handle of the 
knife is dark brown or black, but again the correc- 
tion is accepted; for, in her second interrogatory, 
Connie had called it ' light brown, ' which is certainly 
wrong. The self-correction is two or three marks 
above the average for the standard. 

TABLE XV. 

Scores of the Standard V Children, Both Sexes, School C. 



Average Age. % o 

Yrs. Mths. Ss3 

42 Girls 12 1.8 Aver. Mark 59.5 

Mean Variation 10.4 

Coefficient of Variability.. .17 

32 Boys 12 2.9 Aver. Mark 41.9 

Mean Variation 7.2 

Coefficient of Variability.. .17 

Comments on Table XV. 

There is an advance on the work of Standard IV, 
slight, except in the power of self-correction, on the 
part of the boys, but very marked in the case of the 
girls. It is, of course, to be noted that this is the 
first standard in which the ages of the boys and girls 
are practically the same, though even here the boys 
are slightly older. In the interrogatories these chil- 
dren are not yet outside the infant-school range, but 



bo 




60 


.25 


o 
u 


8§ 






fcC+-> 






V O 


O) <5 


a; a 


OJ © 


fa£ 


02 tf 


mH 


02 CJ 


33.1 


65.2 


35.7 


7.5 


3.6 


9.8 


3.5 


1.9 


.11 


.15 


.09 


.25 


29.6 


46.8 


31.7 


9.0 


3.4 


8.0 


2.2 


2.1 


.11 


.17 


.07 


.23 



164 children's perceptions 

in the reports the girls are definitely so, though the 
boys are scarcely better than the 7-year-old infants 
of School B. Comparison between the boys and 
girls shows the girls to be superior all along the line, 
except in their power of self-correction ; but the girls 
have fewer errors to correct in this and the succeed- 
ing grades. 

VII. The Work of the Standard VI Children, 
Boys and Girls, of School C. 

The work of this grade will be illustrated by the 

papers of a boy, Thomas Gr , aged 12 years 5 

months. His work is somewhat uneven, being quite 
average work for the first week, and in the second 
week showing no improvement in his report, but 
great improvement in his interrogatory. His self- 
correction is normal for the standard. 

Thomas G 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"In the picture I saw a wooden table with a lady 
and a boy beside it. The boy was sitting on a chair 
eating. The lady had a large bowl in her hands. I 
also saw a large box with a floiver-pot on it; the plant 
was in full-bloom. Under the table was a large 
pitcher and on the floor was a book with two hookers 
on it. There was also a large ivooden door which 
was partly open. The chair on which the boy was 
sitting ivas made of ivood. The plant that was on 
the box was a geranium. On the boy's back ivas a 
school-bag so that illustrates probably the boy was 
going to school." 



THIRD AND FOUKTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 165 

Marking of Thomas G 's First Report. 

The report is clearly written and tersely ex- 
pressed, but Thomas appears to have very little to 
say. He enumerates very few of the things repre- 
sented in the picture. 

Marks are obtained for 15 items. The school-bag 
mentioned may have been the satchel on the floor, but 
this has been definitely called ' a book with two hook- 
ers,' and it certainly is not on the boy's back. Per- 
haps the inclusion of the school-bag is merely an 
error of association; but the second report makes 
this somewhat doubtful. 

The boy is ' sitting' and 'eating.' 

Positional references total 9. 

The correct qualifications are more numerous than 
is usual with younger children, except that, through- 
out the whole of this and the next week's report, 
there is only one reference to color, and that one 
doubtful. The boy has noticed the colors, as we 
find by his interrogatories, but he has not deemed 
them worthy of a place in his reports ; they are prob- 
ably not aspects interesting to him. The qualifica- 
tions he does give are as follow : the table, the door, 
and the chair are 'made of wood' (three marks) ; 
the bowl, the box, and the pitcher are 'large' (three 
marks) ; the plant is in 'bloom' (full is a doubtful 
qualification) ; the book has 'two' hookers, and the 
door is 'partly' open : a total of 9. 

Thomas scores a total of 35 marks for his first 
report. 

Thomas G 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"In the picture I saw a large wooden box with a 
plant. The plant had about six flowers and about 



166 children's perceptions 

twenty leaves; the plant was named a geranium. 
There ivas also a door which was partly open. A 
large table ivas near the door. A small boy was sit- 
ting on a wooden chair near the table. Under the 
chair on which the boy was sitting was a school-bag ; 
the boy had something in his hand which he appeared 
to be eating. A woman was at the left-hand side of 
the table. Between her two hands she had what ap- 
peared to be a large bowl. Under the table was a 
lage (this word spelt wrongly) pitcher, and on the 
floor near the boy ivas a book with two hookers on it. 
The colour of the walls ivas a Cambridge* colour." 

Marking of Thomas G 's Second Report. 

Again Thomas has given a clear report much re- 
sembling his first. The most interesting point lies 
in the reappearance of the school-bag, which, how- 
ever, is no longer placed on the boy's back, but under 
the chair; yet the actual satchel still seems to be 
identified as a "book with two hookers." 

Seventeen enumerative marks are obtained. There 
are two references to action, and seven to position. 

The correct qualifications are very similar to those 
previously given: the box, table, bowl and pitcher 
are 'large' (four marks) ; the box and the chair are 
made of 'wood' (two marks); the door is 'partly' 
open; the boy is a 'small' boy; the woman's 'two' 
hands appear to have been observed; there are 'two' 
hookers (the supports of the satchel) ; and the walls 
are a 'Cambridge' color. The grayish blue of the 
walls may, perhaps, be fairly called a light blue, so 
that a mark is allowed for the last qualification men- 
tioned, making a total of 11. 

*The colors of Cambridge University are light blue. 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 167 

Thomas scores in all 37 marks for his second re- 
port, an improvement of only two marks upon his 
first. 

Thomas G 's First and Second Sets of Answers. 



Questions. 

1. Which side of the table 

was the lady stand- 
ing? 

2. What was the lady do- 

ing? 

3. How was she holding 

what she had in her 
hands? 

4. Had she anything else in 

her hand beside what 
you have told me 
about? 

5. What clothes was the 

lady wearing? 

6. What sort of a hat had 

she? 

7. What was she wearing 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? 

9. Had she a pinafore or 

apron on? 

10. Had she a frock on? 

11. What color was her 

blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 

12. What color was her 

skirt? 

13. What color was her 

apron or pinafore? 

14. What color were her 

boots or shoes? 

15. What color was her 

hair? 

16. What was the boy do- 

ing? 

17. How was the boy hold- 

ing what he had in his 
hand? 



First Set of 
Answers. 



Second Set of 

Answers. 



The left side of the The left side of the 
table. table. 

Holding a bowl. Holding a bowl in 
her hands. 

Between her two Between her hands 
hands (showed (showed wrong- 

wrongly), ly). 

No. No. 



Bright coloured 

clothes. 
No hat. 

Sandles. 

Yes. 
No. 

Frock, yes. 
Red. Blouse. 



Blue. Frock. 



Bright coloured 

clothes. 
Hat, had not one. 

Shoes. 

Yes. 

Apron. 

No. 

Blouse — blue. 



Had no skirt. 



She did not have Red, 

one. 
Shoes, brown. 



Dark hair. 

Eating. 

Between thumb 
and finger 
( showed wrong- 

ly). 



Brown shoes. 

Dark hair. 

Boy, eating. 

Between thumb 
and finger 
(showed wrong- 
ly). 



168 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



Questions. 



First Set of 
Answers. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 

Feet on chair rail. 



18. Where were the boy's On rail of the 

feet ? chair. 

19. What clothes was the Bright coloured 

boy wearing? clothes. 

20. What color was the Coat, Hue. 

boy's coat or jacket? 

21. What color were the Knickers. Red. 

boy's trousers or knick- 
ers? 

22. What color were the Shoes, had none 

boy's boots or shoes? 

23. What color were the Blue stockings. 

boy's stockings? 

24. What was the color of Hair. Fair. 

the boy's hair? 

25. What sort of boots had had no boots. 

the boy? 

26. What sort of shoes had had no shoes. 

he? 

27. Did you see anything School-lag. 

under the boy's chair? 

28. Did you see a jug or Yes. Vase. 

vase? 

29. What color was it? Jug. White. 

30. Did you see anything on Yes, book with two Yes. 

the floor near the jug hookers. 
or vase ; if so, what 
was it? 

31. What color was the ta- Brown table. 

ble? 

32. What else was there on Nothing. 

the table beside the 
thing the lady was 
holding ? 

33. Did you see a knife? No knife. 

34. Whereabouts on the ta- Nowhere on table. Centre of table 

ble was it? 

35. What color was the Was not a knife. Brown handle. 

knife ? 

36. Did you see a flower- Yes. Yes. 

pot? 

37. Where was the flower- On a wooden box. On a box. 

pot? 

38. What color were the Red flowers. Pinkish red. 

flowers ? 

39. How many flowers were Four flowers. Six. 

there? 



Bright coloured 

clothes. 
Red. 

Blue. 



Black. 

Navy blue. 

Fair. 

Shoes, had no 
boots. 

black. 

Yes. 

No, a large pitcher. 

Green. 



Brown. 
Knife. 

Yes. 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 169 

First Set of Second Set of 

Questions. Answers. Answers. 

40. What color were the leaves green. Green. 

leaves? 

41. How many leaves were leaves ten. about twenty. 

there ? 

42. What color was the Flower Pot. dark Red. 

flower-pot? red. 

43. What color was the box? box. white. White. 

44. What did you see through No window to see Was no window. 

the open window? through. 

45. What did you see through The door was not Nothing. 

the open door? open wide 

enough. 

46. Did you see a window? No. No. 

47. What color were the Walls, blue. Blue, light. 

walls of the room? 

48. What color was the car- There was no car- Was no carpet. 

pet? pet. 

49. Did you see a carpet? No. No. 

50. What room was it? Boom. Dont no. Probably the 

kitchen. 

Marking of Thomas G 's Answers. 

Thomas answered 28 questions accurately the first 
week and 35 the week afterwards, which indicated 
an exceptional improvement. He denied that the 
woman had an apron in the first interrogatory, but 
admitted it and remembered the color a week later. 
He denied that the boy had either boots or shoes 
the first week, but allowed shoes the week after. 
The four questions about the knife (Numbers 32, 
33, 34, 35), all answered at first by a denial of the 
knife, were answered correctly a week later. These 
corrections could hardly have been due merely to 
delayed suggestion, since he persevered, and 
rightly, in his negative answers about the woman's 
hat, the window, what could be seen through the 
door, and the carpet. It would appear that the sug- 



170 children's perceptions 

gestion works affirmatively much more easily when 
there has been a basis of perception, though tempo- 
rarily forgotten and even denied. 

Thomas G 's Self -Correction. 

"I said the boy's stockings were navy blue they 
are Cambridge colour. I said there were six flowers 
and twenty leaves there are only three flowers and 
nine leaves. I said she has no frock but she has a 
blue one. I also mentioned the boy had a blue blouse 
and he had a green one; I said the pitcher was under 
the table but it is under the chair on which the boy 
is sitting. I mentioned the lady was holding a bowl 
between her hands but it appears to be part of a loaf 
of bread. I said the knife was in the centre of the 
table but it is on the edge. I also said the handle of 
it was brown but it is black." 

Marking of Thomas G 's Self -Correction. 

'Blue' has been allowed, even navy blue, as a cor- 
rect description of the color of the boy's stockings, 
but 'Cambridge blue' is more accurate and is there- 
fore allowed as an actual correction. 'Brown' has 
been regarded as correct for the color of the knife- 
handle, and, though it is very doubtful whether it 
ought to be called brown or black, 'black' is accepted 
as a correction since the boy, on further perception, 
decides it to be black. The other assertions are 
straightforward corrections of obvious errors, 
though, as has already been explained, 'bowl' has 
been accepted as an identification of the loaf of Ger- 
man bread. Thomas obtains a total of 9 marks for 
self-correction. 



THIRD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 171 
TABLE XVI. 
Scores of the Standard VI Children, Both Sexes, School C. 

o o . 

as el 3 

M fep ji 

+s 2 ^ti "°S « 
Average Age. £o || go §g ^g 

Yrs. Mths. &.B5 few sc« dq« oqU 

20 Girls 12 8.0 Aver. Mark 66.3 33.8 76.5 34.8 7.6 

Mean Variation 12.6 2.5 14.3 3.1 2.3 

Coefficient of Variability.. .19 .07 .19 .09 .30 

26 Boys 13 0.3 Aver. Mark 34.9 29.5 44.5 31.5 8.9 

Mean Variation 9.7 3.7 10.9 2.7 1.1 

Coefficient of Variability.. .28 .13 .24 .09 .12 

Comments on Table XVI. 

In their power of reporting, the girls continue to 
make considerable advances upon the work of the 
preceding standard ; but, in their capacity to answer 
questions on what they have observed, they are ap- 
parently on a level with the children of Standard V. 
The work of the Standard VI boys is also, in this re- 
spect, equal to that of the preceding class ; whilst, in 
their power to report, they are found to be below 
Standard V. 

Comparisons between the boys and the girls show 
the latter to be superior in every respect (except 
that of self -correction) ; in the fluency and accuracy 
of reporting, very seriously superior. And, of 
course, the boys have many more obvious errors to 
correct ; so that it is doubtful whether they are really 
better than the girls, even in self-correction. Doubt- 
less, a 'domestic interior' offers more of interest to 
girls than to boys ; but the striking difference in the 
reports seems more likely to be due to superior de- 
velopment of the girls of this age on the linguistic 
and observational side. It is well known that girls 



172 children's perceptions 

will write more than boys ; but, in this case, they have 
written more on an accurate observational basis, 
and what they have written is relevant to the require- 
ments of the experiment. In their capacity to re- 
port, the girls are now enormously advanced beyond 
the infant-school children, but the boys are not; 
and in the interrogatories the balance is still slightly 
in favor of the 7-year-old children of the infant 
school. 

VIII. The Work of the Standard VII Children, 
Boys and Girls, of School C. 

The work of this class or grade will be illustrated 

by the papers of Mabel P , aged 13 years 2 

months, whose work is, on the whole, just above the 
average for that of the girls of Standard VII. 

Mabel P 's First Spontaneous Report. 

"I can see in the picture a small boy. He has a 
very pale face. He has golden hair. He is dressed 
in a green coat, and red knickerbockers. He has blue 
stockings. Also black shoes. He is sitting on a 
chair. By his side is a nurse. She is dressed in a 
blue skirt and blouse. She has on a red apron. In 
her hand she has a big black basin. She has handed 
the boy something out of the basin. By the side of 
the boy there is a table, yellow in colour. On the 
table is a knife with a dark handle and ivhite blade. 
At the end of the room there is a door. It is yellow 
in colour. It is also a little way open. By the side 
of the boy there is a sort of stand. On this stand is a 
big red book. By the side of the nurse is a big box. 
It is yellow in colour. It also has one or two nails in 



THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 173 

it. On the box their is a flower pot. In the flower 
pot are some geraniums. The flowers of the gera- 
nium are red. The leaves are green, with black 
stripes across. 

"The nurse's hair is very dark. The boy is evi- 
dently an invalid. The homestead looks very poorly 
furnished. The door has bars of wood across it. 
The boy's feet are resting on one of the bars of the 
chair. The nurse is standing. The pot of geraniums 
are standing on a wooden box, that has one or two 
bars of wood across." 

Marking of Mabel P 's First Report. 

Again we have a report which seems closely to 
follow the questions of the interrogatory; but, as a 
matter of fact, the questions have not yet been asked, 
and the closeness is due to the circumstance that the 
questions were formed to run along the lines on 
which the child's mental evolution takes place. The 
persons and things are mentioned, located, and 
qualified by adjectival and, to a slight extent, by 
adverbial description. As we have seen, the reports 
improve in every respect as the child grows more 
proficient, but especially in the location and quali- 
fication of the things enumerated. 

Mabel obtains 34 enumerative marks. The last 
sentence about the geraniums on the wooden box 
with bars of wood across it is a repetition of state- 
ments which have been made before. 

The boy 'is sitting,' the nurse 'is standing,' and 
'has handed' the boy something out of the basin. 
The last assertion, however is thought perhaps too 



174 CHILDRESS PERCEPTIONS 

inferential and doubtful in nature to permit a mark 
to be given to it as a correct observation. 

With locational terms and phrases, Mabel's paper 
is abundantly supplied. She obtains, in fact, 16 
marks for positional references. 

But it is in the qualifications attached to the per- 
sons and the things enumerated that the more pro- 
ficient children make their ability especially evident. 
The boy is 'small,' his face is 'pale,' he has 'golden' 
hair, a 'green' coat, 'red' knickerbockers, 'blue' 
stockings, and black 'shoes.' The woman has a 'blue' 
skirt, a 'blue' blouse, a 'red' apron and 'dark' hair. 
The basin is 'big' and 'black;' the boy has something 
'out' of the basin (similarity of appearance is held 
to justify this) ; the table is 'yellow;' the knife has 
a 'dark' handle and a 'white' blade; the door is 'yel- 
low, ' and open ' a little way ; ' the book on the stand is 
'big' and 'red;' the box is 'big;' and the nails are 
'one or two' in number. If we accept 'one or two' 
as an indefinite expression meaning 'several,' this is 
admissible. The flowers are 'red,' the leaves are 
'green,' and the stripes across the leaves are 'black.' 
The furniture is 'poor' (involved in the phrase 
'poorly furnished'). A total of 27 marks is gained 
for accurate qualification. 

Mabel P therefore scores 79 marks for her 

first report. 

Mabel P 's Second Spontaneous Report. 

"The boy in the picture has on a green coat. He 
also has on a pair of red knickerbockers. Also a 
pair of blue stockings and a pair of black shoes. He 
is sitting on a chair. He has his feet on the front bar 



THIRD AND FOURTH SEMES OF EXPERIMENTS 175 

of the chair. By his chair stands a woman evidently 
his mother. She has in her hands a big black bowl. 
She has on a blue skirt and a blue blouse. Over these 
she has a red apron. She has a very pale face and 
very dark hair. On the boy's left side there stands 
a table. It is yellow in color. On the table is a 
knife. The handle is black and the blade is white. 
On the right side of the table there is a door. It is 
yellow in color. It also has two or three bars of wood 
across it. It is about half-way open. On the right 
side of the woman there is a big box. It is yellow in 
color and has some nails in it. It also has a few bars 
of wood across it. On the box, there is a flower pot. 
It is red in color and contains a few geraniums. The 
flowers of the geraniums are red. The leaves are 
green. The leaves have a thick black stripe across 
them. There is about three leaves and four flowers. 
They are in full-bloom by the look of them. On the 
right side of the boy is a large book. It is red in 
color and is very thick. The boy is evidently an in- 
valid. He has a very pale face. He has beautiful 
golden hair. In his hands he is holding, what looks 
like a piece of cake. The homestead looks extremely 
poorly furnished. The boy's shoes are laced up 
ones. The book is on a stand. The boy is about 
eleven or twelve years of age. 

<( The stand on which the book is is very dark in 
color it is almost black. The chair on which the boy 
is sitting is fairly high. The woman's hair shines 
very much in the picture. She has handed him some 
of the contents of the basin. The ivoman looks very 
sad. She is of a very slender build." 



176 children's perceptions 

Marking of Mabel P 's Second Report. 

This report very closely resembles the one given 
the week before, though it is obviously fuller. One 
rather noticeable object, the jug under the chair, is 
still omitted, and, notwithstanding the suggestive 
force of the questions about the jug, its existence is 
denied in both the interrogatories. The woman in 
the picture, formerly identified as a nurse, is now 
perceived as * evidently his mother.' The 'some- 
thing out of the basin' of the first report is now 
identified as a * piece of cake.' These identifications 
improve without any suggestive force in the ques- 
tions bearing on them. But the boy is still ' evidently 
an invalid ; ' this is an inference from a pale face, or, 
rather, one with no color in the cheeks. And the 
satchel is still a big red book on a stand ; a descrip- 
tion, by the way, which several adults have given me 
from time to time. She no longer tells us that the 
woman has handed him something out of a basin; 
the usual tendency at this age is towards observation 
and away from inference, but possibly the identifica- 
tion of the ' something' as a 'piece of cake' may in 
this case account for the omission of 'handed out of 
the basin.' 

Enumerative marks are obtained for 37 items, an 
improvement of 4 marks on the enumeration in the 
first report. The additional enumerations, involving 
the bars of wood on the box and the slender figure of 
the woman, were in no way due to any suggestive 
influence of the interrogatories, for no questions 
bore even indirectly on these points. 

The boy 'is sitting' and 'holding' a piece of cake. 
Positional references are numerous. The boy is 'on' 



THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 177 

the chair and his feet are 'on' the bar of the chair. 
Mabel misplaces the woman in relation to the boy, 
for she is not 'by his chair,' an error evident in both 
interrogatories. The bowl is ■ in ' the woman 's hands. 
The apron is 'over' the skirt and blouse. It is doubt- 
ful, perhaps, whether 'over' should receive a mark, 
since the wearing of an apron at all implies such a 
position. The table is on 'the left side' of the boy; 
a knife is 'on' the table; and 'on the right side' of 
the table there is a door. Bars of wood are seen 
'across' the door which is 'open.' 'On the right 
side' of the woman, the box 'in' which there are nails 
is situated, and bars of wood run 'across' the box. 
The flower-pot is ' on ' the box, and the leaves of the 
geraniums have black stripes 'across' them. 'On 
the right side' of the boy is a book, and he has a 
piece of cake 'in' his hands. The book is 'on' the 
stand: making a total of 16 references to position. 
The accurate qualifications are again very numer- 
ous. The boy's coat is 'green;' his knickerbockers 
are 'red;' his stockings are 'blue' and his shoes are 
'black;' his feet are on the 'front' bar of the chair; 
the bowl is 'big' and 'black.' The woman's skirt is 
'blue,' her blouse is 'blue' and her apron is 'red;' 
her face is 'pale;' her hair is 'dark.' The table is 
'yellow.' 'The knife is 'black' in the handle and 
'white' in the blade. The door is 'yellow,' but it 
has not 'two or three bars' across it, but it is 'half- 
way' open. The box is 'big' and 'yellow;' but it has 
only one, not a 'few' bars across it. The flower-pot 
is 'red;' the flowers are 'red;' the leaves are 'green' 
with 'thick,' 'black' stripes, and the flowers are in 
'full bloom.' The book (the satchel) is 'large,' 'red' 



178 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



and 'thick.' The boy's face is 'pale' and his hair 
is 'beautiful' (a rare aesthetic qualification), and 
'golden;' and he is 'about eleven or twelve years 
old.' The room is 'poorly' 'furnished.' The stand 
is 'very dark;' the chair is 'fairly' 'high.' The 
woman's hair 'shines' and shines 'very much;' her 
figure is 'slender' and she looks 'very sad.' Mabel 
thus achieves a total of 41 good qualifications. The 
high total of 96 marks is obtained for this second 
report. 

Mabel P 's First and Second Sets of Answers. 



Questions. 

1. Which side of the table 

was the lady stand- 
ing? 

2. What was the lady do- 

ing? 

3. How was she holding 

what she had in her 
hands? 

4. Had she anything else in 

her hand besides what 
you have told me 
about? 

5. What clothes was the 

lady wearing? 

6. What sort of a hat had 

she? 

7. What was she wearing 

on her feet? 

8. Could you see her feet? 

9. Had she a pinafore or 

apron on? 

10. Had she a frock on? 

11. What color was her 

blouse or the top part 
of her frock? 

12. What color was her 

skirt? 



First Set of 
Answers. 



Second Set of 
Answers. 



left of the table. The Left. 

She was holding a She was holding a 

big basin. big black bowl. 

She was holding it She was holding it 
near the boy's with two hands 
face (showed (showed wrong- 
wrongly), ly). 

No. No. 



A blue skirt 
blouse. A 


and 
Bed 


A blue skirt 
blouse and a 


and 
red 


apron. 
She had no hat 


on. 


apron. 
She had no hat 


on. 


I 

No. 

Yes, she had 


an 


I could not 
anything on 
feet. 

No. 

Yes. 


see 
her 


apron on. 
Yes. 
Blue in color 

blouse. 




Yes. 

Blue Blouse. 




Blue in color skirt. 


Blue Skirt. 





THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 179 



13. What color was her Bed in color apron. Bed apron. 

apron or pinafore? 

14. What color were her I did not see any I could not see any 

boots or shoes? loots. 

15. What color was her hair? A dark brown. 



16. What was the boy do- He was about to 
ing? eat something. 



17. How was he holding He was hold 

what he had in his 
hand? 

18. Where were the boy's 

feet? 

19. What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 



20. What color was the 

boy's coat or jacket? 

21. What color were the 

boy's trousers or knick- 
erbockers? 

22. What color were the 

boy's boots or shoes? 

23. What color were his 

stockings ? 

24. What was the color of 

the boy's hair? 

25. What sort of boots had 

the boy? 

26. What sort of shoes had 

he? 

27. Did you see anything 

under the boy's chair? 

28. Did you see a jug? 

29. What color was the jug? 

30. Did you see anything on 

the floor near the jug 
or vase; if you did, 
what was it? 

31. What color was the ta- 

ble? 



Besting on a bar of 

the chair. 
A green coat, Bed 

Knickers, Blue 

Stockings, Black 

Shoes. 
Green coat. 



Bed trosers. 

Black Shoes. 

Blue Stockings. 

Golden Color. 

Black shoes. 

Black lace up 
Shoes. 

No. 

No. 

(No answer.) 
A stand with a 
book on it. 

Yellow. 



A dark orown color 
was her hair. 

He was holding 
something in his 
hand; he was 
sitting on a 
chair. 

Towards his mouth, 
holding it with 
two hands. 

On the front bar of 
the chair. 

A green coat and 
black shoes, Bed 
knickerbockers, 
blue stockings. 

Green coat. 

Bed knickerbock- 
ers. 

Black Shoes. 

Blue stockings. 

Very fair, other- 
wise golden. 
Laced shoes. 

Laced shoes. 

No. 

No. 

I never saw one. 

Yes, a big red book. 



Yellow table. 



180 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



32. 

33. 
34. 

35. 

36. 

37. 

38. 
39. 
40. 

41. 
42. 

43. 

44. 

45. 

46. 
47. 

48. 

49. 
50. 



What else was there on A knife. 
the table beside the 
thing the lady was 
holding? 

Did you see a knife? 

Whereabouts on the ta- 
ble was it? 

What color was the A black handle and 
knife? 

Did you see a flower- 
pot? 

Where was the flower- On a big box. 
pot? 



A knife. 



Yes. 

Next to the basin. 



a white blade. 
Yes. 



What color were the Red Flowers. 

flowers? 
How many flowers were / don't remember. 

there? 
What color were the Green leaves. 

leaves ? 



How many leaves were 
there? 

What color was the 
flower-pot ? 

What color was the box? 

What did you see through 
the open window? 

What did you see through 
the open door? 

Did you see a window? 

What color were the 
walls of the room? 

What color was the car- 
pet? 

Did you see a carpet? 

What room was it? 



four leaves. 

Redish color. 

Yellowish color. 
There was not a 

window. 
Nothing. 

No. 

I did not notice the 

color. 
I did not see any 

carpet. 
No. 
Evidently the 

kitchen. 



Yes. 

On the edge near 

the boy. 
A black handle and 

a white blade. 
Yes. 

On the right side 
of the woman 
standing on a 
big box. 

Red flowers. 

About three. 

Oreen with a thick 

black stripe 

across, 
four leaves. 

Red flower pot. 

yellow box. 
I did not see a win- 
dow. 
Nothing. 

No. 

I did not notice the 
walls. 

There was no car- 
pet. 

No. 

The kitchen. 



Marking of Mabel P 's First and Second Sets of 

Answers. 

Mabel's answers are slightly more accurate than 
the average for her standard. She obtains 38 marks 



THIKD AND FOURTH SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS 181 

for her first interrogatory and 39 for her second, 
given a week later. Though she varies their phras- 
ing from week to week*, there is one case only in 
which her second week's answers differ in meaning 
from those given the week before. She did not re- 
member (Question 39) how many flowers there were 
on the plant when she was asked on February 2nd., 
but on the 9th. said " About three." There are 
other indications that the second week's remem- 
brance is clearer than the first, as may easily be seen 
by reference to the answers to Questions 34, 37 and 
40. Her resistance to suggestibility is very high ; 
and, had she not failed to notice the jug and dis- 
placed the woman, she would have reached a total 
of 43 marks, the highest mark obtained by any girl 
of her grade. The highest mark obtained by any 
boy of the corresponding grade or standard was 38. 

Mabel P 's Self -Corrections. 

"1. I said there was nothing under the boy's 
chair, but there is a green jug. 

2. I said, I did not notice the walls of the room, 
they are a grayish blue. 

3. I said there was only 4 geranium leaves there 
are nine. 

4. I said the handle of the knife was black, it is a 
very dark brown. 

5. I said the boy was holding his food with both 
hands he is only holding it with one hand. 

6. I said the woman was at the left of the table, 
she is in front of the table. 

*It will be remembered that the children had no chance of seeing 
their first week's answers when giving those of the second week. 



182 children's perceptions 

7. I said he had laced shoes, but I cannot see 
whether they were laced or buttoned. 

8. I said I could not see her feet but I can see 
them now. 

9. I said she had no shoes on but she has black 
ones on. 

10. I said the door ivas yellow but it is streaked 
with green and red." 

Marking of Mabel P 's Self -Corrections. 

This is excellent work. Two marks are obtained 
for the first sentence, for the existence and color of 
the jug, formerly omitted, are now inserted. The 
corrections in Sentences 2 and 3 are obvious. 'Black' 
is allowed for the knife-handle, but 'very dark 
brown' is nearer to complete accuracy, and is ac- 
cepted as a correction. Sentence 5 is an obvious cor- 
rection. In Sentence 6, Mabel realizes that she has 
misplaced the woman, and, if we accept the larger 
edge of the table as the 'front,' the statement may 
be regarded as a correction. 'Laced shoes' was an 
acceptable answer, but the correction in Sentence 7 
is a real one. Corrections 8 and 9 are obvious. It 
is right to say the door is 'yellow' or 'brown,' but it 
is the correction of an omission to say "it is streaked 
with green and red." 

Mabel scores 10 or 11 marks for self-correction, 
according as we do or do not accept her answer 
about the front of the table. Her mark has been 
listed as 10, two and a half marks above the average 
for her grade in the girls ' school, and one mark above 
the corresponding mark for her grade in the boys' 
school. The boys, of course, had more obvious 
errors to correct. 



THIED AND FOURTH SERIES OP EXPERIMENTS 183 

TABLE XVII. 
SCORES OF THE STANDARD VII CHILDREN, BQTH SEXES, SCHOOL C. 



+-> *» a 

P S. © 

to 5? E 

+5 2 ^t! * 8 « 
Average Age. -go £§j go gjg ^ g 

Yrs. Mths. fatf fa£ 02(3 saw wU 

14 Girls 13 1.8 Aver. Mark 81.4 34.5 89.6 36.2 7.5 

Mean Variation 16.8 4.0 13.4 3.4 2.2 

Coefficient of Variability.. .20 .11 .15 .09 .29 

10 Boys 13 7.5 Aver. Mark 34.9 31.4 50.6 32.3 9.0 

Mean Variation 4.3 3.2 8.6 3.7 2.0 

Coefficient of Variability.. .13 .10 .17 .11 .22 

Comments on Table XVII. 

The boys show a slight advance on the work of the 
preceding standard and the girls show a very great 
advance in their reports and a smaller one in their 
interrogatories. Even the boys are now beyond the 
range of the 7-year-old infant-school children in 
their capacity to report accurately on what they have 
seen, though only slightly so ; and the 6-year-old in- 
fants of School B are still slightly superior ; but the 
7th standard girls are very greatly superior to the 
children of all previous standards. In the interroga- 
tories there is still very little difference between the 
infants and the boys and girls. The girls' work is 
slightly above that of the best of the infants, and 
the boys' decidedly below it. 

The comparison between the work of the boys 
and girls of the same school grade (Standard VII) 
is markedly in favor of the girls, though the girls 
of this standard are 6 months younger than the boys. 
The high variability in the girls' reports is due to 
the extremely good work of two or three girls who 
score marks well over the hundred ; the highest mark 



184 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



TABLE XVIII. 

Work of Boys and Girls Compaeed Age by Age (Average Mabks 
with Coefficients of Variability*).! 





Average Age. 


28 Girls 


Yrs. 

8 


Mths. 
6.6 


32 Boys 


8 


6.2 


37 Girls 


9 


4.4 


34 Boys 


9 


4.9 


32 Girls 


10 


5.6 


43 Boys 


10 


6.1 


42 Girls 


11 


6.0 


27 Boys 


11 


7.0 . 


33 Girls 


12 


6.3 


31 Boys 


12 


4.3 


26 Girls 


13 


6.0 


26 Boys 


13 


5.6 



M 




ba 


u 

0) 


u 


a u 


*2 
9^ 


w X 


£& 


O o> 


JB £ 


7* O 

few 


oaM 


a> a 

02m 


« © 


25.2 


37.7 


26.4 


6.3 


.10 


.18 


.11 


.36 


23.9 


24.4 


25.0 


3.9 


.20 


.28 


.18 


.46 


25.7 


41.6 


26.9 


5.2 


.17 


.25 


.15 


.29 


27.4 


33.2 


28.6 


5.1 


.12 


.30 


.13 


.37 


27.8 


47.6 


30.2 


6.0 


.17 


.19 


.13 


.22 


27.4 


40.1 


29.0 


5.4 


.15 


.23 


.13 


.44 


30.7 


58.5 


32.2 


6.6 


.13 


.26 


.13 


.29 


27.9 


44.7 


29.3 


7.3 


.12 


.19 


.13 


.34 


32.8 


73.6 


35.1 


7.0 


.13 


.22 


.10 


.34 


28.9 


41.1 


31.2 


7.6 


.13 


.21 


.09 


.28 


33.8 


73.6 


35.6 


7.0 


.09 


.22 


.08 


.24 


30.7 


47.8 


31.7 


8.8 


.11 


.26 


.08 


.23 



u » 

-- a> 

Aver. Mark 29.1 

Coefficient of Variability.. .30 

Aver. Mark 24.2 

Coefficient of Variability.. .29 

Aver. Mark 32.7 

Coefficient of Variability.. .29 

Aver. Mark 28.4 

Coefficient of Variability.. .29 

Aver. Mark 39.4 

Coefficient of Variability.. .27 

Aver. Mark 32.6 

Coefficient of Variability.. .24 

Aver. Mark 52.0 

Coefficient of Variability.. .27 

Aver. Mark 36.8 

Coefficient of Variability.. .22 

Aver. Mark 65.5 

Coefficient of Variability.. .24 

Aver. Mark 36.8 

Coefficient of Variability.. .21 

Aver. Mark 64.9 

Coefficient of Variability.. .15 

Aver. Mark 39.3 

Coefficient of Variability.. .28 

*The coefficient of variability used in the above table is the quotient 
of the mean variation divided by the average. 

fThe results shown in this table should be compared with those of 
infants in Table XL 

TABLE XIX. 

The Percentage Increase in Accuracy from the First to the 
Second Interrogatory ; Boys and Girls Compared, School C. 

Aver. Mark Aver. Mark 

First Second Percentage 

Sex. Interrogatory. Interrogatory. Increase. 

Girls 25.2 26.4 5% 

Boys 23.9 25.0 5% 

Girls 25.7 26.9 5% 

Boys 27.4 28.6 4% 

Girls 27.8 30.2 9% 

Boys 27.4 29.0 6% 

Girls 30.7 32.2 5% 

Boys 27.9 29.3 5% 

Girls 32.8 35.1 7% 

Boys 28.9 31.2 8% 

Girls 33.8 35.6 5% 

Boys 30.7 31.7 3% 



Age-Group. No. 
8-year 28 

32 
9-year 37 

34 
10-year 32 

43 
11-year 42 

27 
12-year 33 

31 
13-year 26 

26 



THIED AND FOUETH SEEIES OF EXPEEIMENTS 185 

achieved by any boy of the corresponding grade is 
76. Not only are the girls superior in their capacity 
to report accurately on what they have noticed, they 
are also superior in accurate observation, as shown 
by their superior marks in both interrogatories. 
Doubtless some of this superiority is due to the sub- 
ject-matter of the picture, but, in my judgment, not 
very much; this consideration, however, impels us 
to further research with the subject-matter in favor 
of the boys. 

IX. The Woek of Boys and Giels Compaeed Age 

by Age. 

Hitherto the work of boys and girls has been com- 
pared standard by standard, but such a proceeding 
is not quite fair. For the schools may be differently 
organised ; the boys may be promoted more rapidly 
than the girls or vice versa. Let us now therefore 
cut right across the school organisation and show the 
work of the boys and girls of corresponding ages. 

Comments on Tables XVIII and XIX* 

Age for age, the girls are undoubtedly superior 
to the boys — greatly so in their capacity for accurate 
reporting and definitely so, though to a less degree, 
in their power to observe accurately. In self-correc- 
tion, the boys appear to have the advantage slightly ; 
but, as I have' pointed out previously, the boys have 
more obvious errors to correct. There is one break 
in the regularity of the figures. The girls of Stand- 



*There are no girls in the school over 14 years of age, but there are 
seven boys above 14 ; these are excluded from Tables XVIII and XIX, 
though, of course, they appear in the 'standard' groupings elsewhere. 



186 children's perceptions 

ard III, predominantly 9 years old, had had a lesson 
on making stories about a picture. This is an excel- 
lent exercise; but the children did not at once dis- 
tinguish it from the present exercise, which required 
them to say what they actually saw. Hence their 
interrogatories were worse than they would other- 
wise have been. Of course, both these exercises are 
valuable pedagogically and, indeed, should be used 
in distinction from each other. For all ages, and for 
young children especially, to distinguish what one 
sees from what one thinks in accounting for what 
one sees is a most valuable mental acquisition, and 
is rarely possessed by the mentally confused and 
undisciplined. 

The general rise in the character of the work from 
year to year is more easily seen when the organisa- 
tion of the schools into standards is cut right across, 
as it were; though such a generalization might at 
least have been guessed at with considerable prob- 
ability from the average marks for the various stand- 
ards which were given at the end of each descriptive 
section of the work. The marks for the children 
over 11 should be slightly higher in both boys' and 
girls' schools, for a few of the abler children after 
that age leave to attend secondary or central ele- 
mentary schools. In the girls' school, for example, 
seven such children, on a basis of fair sampling, 
would have to be credited to the 13-year-old section, 
and five to the 12-year-old section ; whilst the corre- 
sponding figures for the boys are very similar. 

The sex difference in linguistic power as applied 
to observation, small at first, seems rapidly to dif- 
ferentiate with age, at least up to 14 years. But, of 



THIRD AND FOURTH SEEIES OF EXPERIMENTS 187 

course, we are not absolutely guarded from the pos- 
sibility that this is a difference due to the curricu- 
lum and method of teaching of the girls' school as 
compared with the boys. But there is one considera- 
tion which makes it very unlikely that we are deal- 
ing with an environmental difference rather than 
one due to sex. For there are five class teachers in 
the boys' and five in the girls' school, and they are 
individually different in their methods. Yet, stand- 
ard by standard, and age by age, the boys and girls 
differ regularly. It is true that all the girls' teach- 
ers are women and all the boys' teachers are men, 
but that brings us to a sex difference over again. 
The time-tables of the schools resemble each other 
in the time given to work in English Composition 
and to observational work in science. Observational 
work of the kind given in this experiment was new 
to both schools. 

The figures in these tables now admit of satisfac- 
tory comparison, age for age, with those for the in- 
fant schools given in a preceding section. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE EVOLUTION OF CHILDREN'S PERCEPTUAL 
JUDGMENTS. 

The picture obviously contains many aspects and 
elements, and an analysis of the children's answers 
to the questions which were asked will throw much 
light on their capacities and interests at various ages 
and grades of mental development. 

I. Childken's Judgments due to Suggestion". 

It is still a disputed point as to whether there is 
such a thing as general suggestibility, and the fol- 
lowing tables will help us to see how far suggestibil- 
ity, if it exists, diminishes pari passu with advancing 
years and intelligence. 

TABLE xx. 

Suggestibility in Infants (Boys and Giels, Aged 3 to 7 Yeabs), 

School A. 

, — Number of correct answers among — , 



mo mo mo mo mo 

m % m dq y oq m % m m H m m *-< m 

^'Sib ^'S- ^'S^ **"•'&- ^'Eflt! 

flflg JO'S £ B73* B-d J Brg« 

o« h oo^ ©a* ©a^ ©a* 

.H TO CO i-t CC *«3< rH TO lO t-i CB CO rHCdr^ 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What sort of a hat was the lady 

wearing? 01434657 10 10 

Had the lady anything else in 

her hand besides the bread or 

cake or basin, etc.? 33897899 10 10 

What kind of boots had the boy ? 1 3 4 3 2 4 8 8 
What did you see through the 

open window? 0077453477 

What did you see through the 

open door? 3245246667 

Did you see a window? 0067343389 

What color was the carpet? 0013246677 

Did you see a carpet ? 0033245577 

Totals 6 6 34 40 28 38 39 44 63 65 

188 



EVOLUTION OP PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 189 

The sequence of the figures will be more conven- 
iently shown by means of a table worked out in per- 
centages. 

TABLE XXa. 

The Percentage of Resistance to Suggestibility in Infants at 
Various Ages, School A. 

Age 3 years. 4 years. 5 years. 6 years. 7 years. 

Interrogatory 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

Percentage Resistance... 7 7 42 50 35 47 49 55 79 81 

Average 7 46 41 52 80 

The figures indicate an enormous decrease in sug- 
gestibility (the numbers show the accurate answers 
— the rejections of the suggested errors) from 3 to 
4 years of age, and, with a slight break at 5 years of 
age, show a continuous decrease up to the age of 7. 
At this age, the resistance to suggestibility is very 
high. It is very important to note that the children 
are less susceptible to suggestion the second week 
than the first. There appears to be a durability 
about what was actually seen that does not belong 
to the creations of the suggestive question. 

We now proceed in the same way to examine 
the resistance to suggestibility in School B. 

There are not enough 3-year-old children in this 
school — situated in a good neighborhood residen- 
tially — to enable me to take a fair sample; but the 
4-year-old children show similar suggestibility to 
the 4-year-old children of School A. After this age, 
the children of School B are markedly superior, with 
the exception of the 7-year-old children. The 7-year- 
old children of School B, it will be remembered, were 
found slightly inferior generally to the 6-year-old 
children of the same school. It seems, therefore, 
that, in impermeability to suggested error, we have 



190 CHILDREN^ PERCEPTION'S 

TABLE XXI. 

Suggestibility in Infants (Boys and Giels Aged 4 to 7 Years), 

School B. 

Number of correct answers among 



wo mo w o mo 

m^to co'Jco m^tfl m<-> t» 

!?M!rt ^'mS fi'stb >>*SbtJ 

Ofl? ^'Sgi • C "OSi ^"Ogi. 

iHcj-^ THrtm i-(a3cD i-trtr> 
Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What sort of a hat was the lady wearing? 6 5 6 9 10 10 10 10 
Had the lady anything else in her hand 

besides the bread, cake, basin, etc.?.... 9 10 9 9 10 10 8 8 

What kind of boots had the boy? 22346555 

What did you see through the open 

window? 4 6 6 6 6 6 9 8 

What did you see through the open door ?566798 10 9 

Did you see a window? 557787 10 9 

What color was the carpet? 11126866 

Did you see a carpet? 33348 10 87 

Totals 35 38 41 48 63 64 66 62 

TABLE XXIa. 

The Peecentage of Resistance to Suggestibility in Infants at 
Various Ages, School B. 

Age 4 years. 5 years. 6 years. 7 years. 

Interrogatory 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

Percentage Resistance 44 48 51 60 78 80 83 78 

Average 46 56 79 80 

a rather good criterion of general mental develop- 
ment. The superiority of School B over School A 
is doubtless due to heredity and home environment 
rather than to pedagogical influences. 

Table XXII shows the results with suggestive 
questions for the girls in School C. 

Since, however, the number of children in the 
different standards or grades varied considerably, 
it will be necessary in addition to show the results 
in percentages. 

Unless we are prepared to throw the comparative 
inferiority of these results to those of the infant 



EVOLUTION OP PEECEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 191 

TABLE XXII. 

Suggestibility in Girls (Aged 8 to 13 Years), School C. 

, Number of correct answers among — ^ 

J H t> .MM 

M M M > > > 

»] | q_i e*— i *H *W 3-1 

C 'O' O^ C^J O ^ © T3 O ^ 

&4 &■< P-) t4 Ch t-< 

■» ed «J <3 J* o3 ,2 c3 ,2 sj "J eS 

7^73 ^,-0 ^-a fc,T3 ^^3 tn'O 

M§ 60 § 'SiJ '&§ "Si § '&§ 

5=S So! SS 35 «a!! Sa2_ 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What sort of a hat was 

the lady wearing? 16 14 12 22 36 36 30 37 19 19 13 16 

Had the lady anything 

else in her hand besides 

the bread, cake, basin, 

etc.? 25 24 24 20 45 40 35 38 15 18 15 16 

What kind of boots had 

the boy? 3 5 4 5 12 7 11 15 10 10 10 12 

What did you see 

through the open win- 
dow? 6 7 5 5 17 33 21 29 17 16 11 15 

What did you see 

through the open door? 10 7 8 6 28 35 27 33 16 16 14 13 
Did you see a window? 11 10 9 6 26 32 31 33 16 17 15 14 
What color was the 

carpet? 3 10 5 10 27 29 23 34 17 20 12 14 

Did you see a carpet?.. 10 15 19 19 33 35 35 39 19 20 15 14 

Totals 84 92 86 93 224 247 213 258 129 136 105 114 

TABLE XXIIa. 

The Percentage of Resistance to Suggestibility in Girls at 
Various Grades of Proficiency, School C. 

Standard r-H.-> rill.-, r-IV.^ r-V.-, r-VI.^ r-VII.^ 

Interrogatory 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

Percentage Resistance.. 31 34 36 39 55 60 65 78 81 85 82 89 

Average 32 37 58 72 83 86 

schools upon the variations in method — the girls 
wrote their answers, the infants had theirs written 
for them, and the girls answered their first interroga- 
tory the day after seeing the picture whilst the in- 
fants answered theirs immediately afterwards — we 
must admit a remarkable set-back in the early years 
of the senior school. There is a regularity about the 
figures which quite excludes 'chance.' It may be 
that the definite acquisition of knowledge in reading, 
writing, arithmetic, and other school studies has tern- 



192 childeen's pekceptions 

porarily weakened that attitude of inquiry which the 
growing infant manifests so markedly; it may be 
an increasing subordination to the teacher which the 
work of the senior school demands, resulting in an 
increased suggestibility. Of the causes I am doubt- 
ful, but the fact seems clear that it is not until Stand- 
ard V (with an average age of 11+) is reached that 
the girls are equal to 5 and 6-year-old children in 
their power to resist erroneous suggestion. There is 
one other factor of course ; the infants are boys and 
girls mixed, the girls' department contains girls only. 
There is one point of complete agreement between 
the girls and infants; the second week's answers are 
better than the first. 

Let us now turn to the work of the boys of the 
same school. 

The number of boys in the various grades or 
standards varied considerably not only from each 
other, but also from the corresponding grades in the 
girls' departments, so the numbers will be shown in 
percentages (Table XXIIIa). 

The boys compare unfavorably with the infants: 
the discussion of the causes need not be repeated. 
There seems the same set-back in the early years 
of senior-school life. In the early grades the boys 
are less suggestible than the girls. At Standard IV 
they are approximately the same, and in later stand- 
ards the girls show a decided superiority. It is pos- 
sible, as we have explained already, that the subject- 
matter may account somewhat for this. But on the 
other hand the decreased suggestibility may be a 
part of the more rapid physical and mental growth 
of the girls at these ages ; for, in certain aspects of 



EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 

TABLE XXIII. 
Suggestibility of Boys (Aged 8 to 13 Yeaes), School C. 
, Number of correct answers among — 



193 



b s t > ^> J> 

o , o o"0- j efl ofl o'O ©t3 

ajsj t»eS » s3 oa sj io ci ™ sS 

>i>0 >2'a fs-j'O t^'O ^■'O ^>'0 

* - S3 "° 03 -° 03 <° si - s3 fl cj 

? gS §02 J 5!» . " S3sG §02 SS 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What sort of a hat was 

the lady wearing? 46 47 27 23 28 26 22 28 17 20 8 9 

Had the lady anything 

else in her hand besides 

what you have told 

me about? 35 43 23 29 29 32 27 27 21 22 9 10 

What sort of boots had 

the boy? 13 12 13 9 13 19 9 10 5 10 4 6 

What did you see 

through the open win- 
dow? 27 22 16 25 19 27 13 17 22 24 7 7 

What did you see 

through the open door? 25 25 18 15 23 19 15 17 16 12 3 3 

Did you see a window? 16 22 13 20 24 28 18 14 19 22 7 9 
What was the color of 

the carpet? 11 15 20 23 27 27 22 25 22 23 9 8 

Did you see a carpet ..20 24 24 25 31 28 26 27 26 25 9 9 

Totals 193 210 154 169 194 206 152 165 148 158 56 61 

TABLE XXIIIa. 

The Percentage of Resistance to Suggestibility in Boys at 
Various Grades of Proficiency, School O. 

Standard ^II.-n r III.-i r-IV.-^ r-V.-^ r-VI.^ r-VII.-> 

Interrogatory 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

Percentage Resistance.. 48 52 46 50 59 63 58 62 71 76 70 76 

Average 50 48 61 60 74 73 



mental capacity, girls are decidedly superior to boys 
at these ages, though inferior in others, such as 
draftsmanship and the functions of abstract reason- 
ing. We are, of course, comparing boys and girls 
of the same social grade ; without this identity all our 
conclusions as to the mental differences of boys 
and girls are exposed to serious error arising from 
difference in class or social environment. 



194 children's perceptions 

II. Children's Perceptions of Clothes. 

Many of the questions dealing with the clothing 
of the woman and the boy are of a suggestive nature, 
sometimes leading to error as in the question "What 
sort of boots had the boy ? " In others, such as ' ' Had 

TABLE XXIV. 

Perceptions of Clothes Among Infants (Aged 3 to 7 Years), 

School A. 

, — Number of correct answers among — > 

»Q ^3 t3 rO *0 

TOO TOO wo too V) o 

w <-< ai to £2 oa to £* to wi* » to** oo 

*">'Eib ^'5oi ^'Sob ^Mii ^>mS3 

O 03 o cd o «* O Bj o eS 

•°-d£. ■ Q, oSi ■ Qr ='SL •°'°SL • Q, °te. 

t-I sSeO tHOJtH iHCOUS r-lOjCD i-tSJC- 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What clothes was the lady «..„„'„ 

wearing? 0444666799 

What clothes was the boy 

wearing? 11113 4 4JSJ7 

Totals 1 5 5 5 9 10 10 12 13 16 

Percentages correct 5 25 25 25 45 50 50 60 65 80 

Average percentage 15 25 48 55 73 

TABLE XXV. 

Perceptions of Clothes Among Infants (Aged 4 to 7 Years), 

School B. 

Number of correct answers among 

rQ t3 'O *0 

TO o to © <b © ,2 © 

to ^ to to i* to cn^tn 00*3 <a 

yaa £' Q s o'^s ^ & 5 

js-og. fi-o? flflS fiflg 
a^> a*> ofl^ ©a 1 * 

SeS-* JhsJio r-tfico .hsjc- 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What clothes was the lady wearing ? 3 5 5 6 5 6 7 6 

What clothes was the boy wearing? _£_£_f_____ 

9 13 13 15 12 14 16 15 



Totals. 



Percentages correct 45 cc 65 ^rn 75 ^k 10 ^to 75 

Average percentage B& 7U 0D ,0 



EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 195 

the lady a frock on?," which assist to re-establish a 
forgotten percept or act independently of it, the 
right answer is suggested. Two questions as to the 
clothes are, however, quite free, at least at first, 
from the influences of suggestion. These questions 
are "What clothes was the lady wearing?" and 
"What clothes was the boy wearing? 3 



1 1 } 



TABLE XXVI. 

Perceptions of Clothes Among Girls (Aged 8 to 13 Years), 
School O. 

, Number of correct answers among » 

• . . M 

E 3 C > > !> 

<H. t-l_ ">-<_ "H "*-!_ *- | _ 

0*0 © O ©O CO Co CO 

&* H pi %t t-t M 

,2 eS ,2 oj £ <st & at ™ eS <n et 

tnO tnO tiO tiO tn'O JhO 

'G>rt 'Sog *Sb§ M§ M§ "&§ 

«K2 mGG SsG 3o2 *50 StC 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What clothes was the 

lady wearing? 10 11 12 23 32 42 36 39 17 19 16 16 

What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 11 20 5 20 25 45 36 40 16 18 16 15 

Totals 21 31 17 43 57 87 72 79 33 37 32 31 

Percentage correct 31 45 28 71 56 85 88 96 83 93 100 97 

Average percentage 38 50 71 92 88 98 

TABLE XXVII. 

Perceptions of Clothes Among Boys (Aged 8 to 13 Years), 
School C. 

, Number of correct answers among -^ 



> 



p— i i— i 

> > > 



f»* "-•_. ,W ~ "- 1 — "W-. "-!_ 

CO oO Co ©O o"o CO 

fc* S* P* tH P* fr* 

aic3 <x at 03aJ to cj m e3 t» sj 

>tiS ^O '"''O fcvO ^O >"0 

&a °a gfl ©a o a © d 

gSS 53S 35 S?w «£ SS 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
What clothes was the 

lady wearing? 19 16 11 13 20 15 12 10 8 5 7 6 

What clothes was the 

boy wearing? 35 34 23 25 21 23 20 26 17 17 8 9 

Totals 54 50 34 38 41 38 32 36 25 22 15 15 

Percentages correct 54 50 40 45 50 46 49 55 48 42 75 75 

Average percentage 52 43 48 52 45 75 



196 children's peeceptions 

A scrutiny of the foregoing tables shows, as in 
previous cases, the superiority of the infants of 
School B to those of School A, which seems consid- 
erable in their greater knowledge of the clothes the 
boy was wearing. The general superiority of the 
answers of the second interrogatory may be due to 
the suggestive influences of some of the questions 
which were asked the first week, such as "Had the 
lady an apron or pinafore on!" and "What color 
was the boy's coat or jacket?" 

In the younger classes of the senior schools there 
seems, at first, a decline, more marked among the 
girls than the boys ; but the girls show much improv- 
ability and definitely surpass the boys in their higher 
standards. In fact, notwithstanding the influence of 
the suggestive questions of the first interrogatory, 
the boys' knowledge of the woman's clothes, poor at 
first, is worse the second week than it was the week 
before. 

The results of Standard III in the girls' depart- 
ment show the peculiarity which I have already com- 
mented upon and explained. 

III. Children's Perceptions op Position. 

The interest attaching to this group of answers is 
considerable, not only for the closeness of the results 
for boys and girls and for their general poorness, 
but as illustrating the advance from one week to the 
next in a case where no suggestive influence, except 
of course the stimulation which a question always 
gives, could arise in consequence of the first week's 
interrogatory. 



EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 



197 



TABLE XXVIII. 

Perceptions of Position Among Infants (Aged 3 to 7 Years), 

School A. 

, Number of correct answers among — , 



m o mo tji o mo mo 

m^m w u m m *j to 93 ij »> m**m 

>>&>% >>'Zh% >>SoS >>&>% <*>tott 

O s3 © sfl os3 o°j os3 

^"o s» flu* as* flflg; flo* 
a ^ o o a o a o° 

i-ieSoo S ej-* 3 0S10 Ssjco 3 e3«— 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

Which side of the table was the 

lady standing? 1146569989 

Whereabouts on the table was 

the knife? 2223665645 

Where were the boy's feet? 1155235555 

Where was the flower-pot? 47799989 10 10 

How was the lady holding the 

bread of cake or basin, etc.?... 0000000011 
How was the boy holding what 

he had in his hand? 0001243200 

Totals 8 11 18 24 24 28 30 31 28 30 

Percentage correct 13 18 30 40 40 47 50 52 47 50 

Average percentage 16 35 43 51 48 



TABLE XXIX. 

Perceptions of Position Among Infants (Aged 4 to 7 Years), 

School B. 

Number of correct answers among 



13 *0 'O t3 

ceo mo mo m o 

m <-< m tatim te i m mhi m 

>»'Soi ^'Slb >>&>% >>bnh 

O sS o S3 o °3 o e3 

•=«*• .a-oS? flfl? Bfl« 

a>> ofl^ O o^ O o>> 

1HS3-* r-IS3lO S OitO rH C3t- 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

Which side of the table was the lady 

standing? 8 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 

Whereabouts on the table was the knife? 5 6 8 8 10 10 8 10 

Where were the boy's feet? 11442355 

Where was the flower-pot? 9 9 8 9 10 10 10 10 

How was the lady holding the bread, or 

cake, or basin, etc.? 00000000 

How was the boy holding what he had 

in his hand? 0100 10 954 

Totals 23 24 30 31 42 42 38 39 

Percentage correct 38 40 50 52 70 70 63 65 

Average percentage 39 51 70 64 



198 



CHILDEEN S PERCEPTIONS 



Comments on Tables XXVIII and XXIX. 

The superiority of the children of School B over 
those of School A is shown at every age. The 4-year- 
old children of School B (there is no sample of 3- 
year-old children for this school) obtain 39 per cent. 
(38 + 40 divided by 2) of correct answers compared 
with 35 per cent, for School A. The 6-year-old chil- 
dren of School B score 70 per cent., those of School 
A 51 per cent. The 7-year-old children of School A 
and B score 48 and 64 per cent., respectively. In 
this respect, therefore, there is a drop in both schools 
from the age of 6 to that of 7 years. The advance 
from the first week to the second is practically in- 
variable. 

TABLE XXX. 

Perceptions op Position Among Girls (Aged 8 to 13 Years), 

School C. 



-Number of correct answers among- 



5S5 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 

Which side of the table 
was the lady standing? 21 21 

Whereabouts on the 
table was the knife?. 26 26 

Where were the boy's 
feet? 14 12 

Where was the flower- 
pot? 22 26 

How was the lady hold- 
ing the bread, cake, 
basin, etc.? 1 

How was the boy hold- 
ing what he had in 
his hand? 1 1 

Totals 84 87 

Percentage correct 41 42 

Average percentage 42 



H 

•I« 



■as 



> 

OT3 



o*d 
u 

■as 



CO 



h£>5 beg bjo£ bog "5l)od 

c&za £22 3i« §<« 3k 

1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 



18 15 13 15 

16 16 12 12 

10 10 10 10 

15 18 14 15 



0000110100 

0000010043 

58 77 144 160 132 145 59 60 53 55 

32 43 47 52 54 59 49 50 55 57 
38 50 56 50 56 



EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 



199 



TABLE XXXI. 

Peeceptions of Position Among Boys (Aged 8 to 13 Years), 
School C. 



-Number of correct answers among 



o'p 
s? 3 

■° e3 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 

Which side of the table 
was the lady standing? 33 39 

Whereabouts on the 
table was the knife . 27 31 

Where were the boy's 
feet? 27 30 

Where was the flower- 
pot? 30 29 

How was the lady hold- 
ing the bread, cake, 
basin, etc 

How was the boy hold- 
ing what he had in 
his hand? 

Totals 117 129 

Percentage correct 39 43 

Average percentage. 41 



O q 



■°3 



9a 



1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

33 31 34 36 26 27 

33 34 28 32 29 28 

25 28 31 31 20 23 

31 31 26 30 25 30 













> 


> 

°v 

CO sj 

■° OS 


> 
W oj 

■Sjj 


1st 2nd 


1st 2nd 


19 20 


9 9 


17 21 


8 7 


19 23 


8 8 


21 23 


9 10 


1 






2 11 
122 124 121 129 101 109 





77 87 



48 49 49 53 51 55 
49 51 53 



49 56 
53 




34 34 



57 57 
57 



Comments on Tables XXX and XXXI 



Grade by grade the boys and girls approximate 
very closely in their perceptions of position; there 
are, indeed, slight indications here and there that 
the boys are more accurate than the girls. The re- 
sults for Standard III class of girls are very in- 
ferior ; it will be remembered that many of the chil- 
dren in this class looked at the picture to make 
stories about it rather than to make accurate obser- 
vations. We see again the characteristic drop in the 
lower standards of the senior departments as com- 
pared with the older infants. 



200 children's perceptions 

IV. Children's Perceptions of Activities. 

Questions concerning the activities of persons rep- 
resented in the picture rarely fail to receive an an- 
swer; errors arise rather from the inference to a 
previous activity than the neglect of observation, 
so to speak, of the present activity. 

TABLE XXXII. 

Perceptions of Actions Among Infants (3 to 7 Years), 
School A. 

, — Number of correct answers among — 1 

■O 13 H3 ^ T3 

BO O 0j O CCO 00 © W Q 

b'Sbii ^"SblS ^Ui; £>m5j £>"S>!!s 

OoS OS e * © "oJ o" 

COj flflj flflj .CO?? .©"dS 

O o^ n^ a*> a^ ^p* 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What was the lady doing? 7999999999 

What was the boy doing? 7 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 

Totals 14 18 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 

Percentage correct 70 90 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 

Average percentage 80 95 95 95 95 



TABLE XXXIII. 

Perception of Actions Among Infants (4 to 7 Years), 
School B. 

Number of correct answers among 

T3 T3 t3 *D 

tc'o to © d © *> © 

mJti aa coi ai coi; to 00*300 

>>Hth ^S>52 **>Hi ^^eh 

O c« o 0J © 03 © OS 

fiflS ^tsS ■ c "ogi • a 'oS!. 
O o h © g ©o © H 

rH CO'V tH 03O rH OStD rH COO 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What was the lady doing? 10 10 9 9 10 10 10 10 

What was the boy doing? 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 

Totals 20 20 19 19 20 20 20 20 

Percentage correct 100 100 95 95 100 100 100 100 

Average percentage 100 95 100 100 



EVOLUTION OP PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 201 



TABLE XXXIV. 

Perceptions of Actions Among Girls (8 to 13 Years), 
School 0. 

, Number of correct answers among , 

■_: 2 i> .mm 

^E ^E ^m > ^> t* 

cd co ofl ofl co ofl 

fr-i M t4 fti fc« M 

,2 e3 ajes ,£2 co ™ o3 ,2 sj »oJ 

h'O fci'O (h^ tn'O fci'O f-i'O 

■Bb§ "So§ "Sb§ US "EdS "&§ 

»5 coK 5S 3c« §02 5SsO 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What was the lady 

doing? 24 23 21 22 36 38 31 31 13 15 14 14 

What was the boy 

doing? 34 32 24 26 44 45 40 39 19 20 14 16 

Totals 58 55 45 48 80 83 71 70 32 35 28 30 

Percentage correct 85 81 75 80 78 81 87 85 80 87 88 94 

Average percentage 83 78 80 86 84 91 



TABLE XXXV. 

Perceptions of Actions Among Boys (8 to 13 Years), 
School O. 

, Number of correct answers among N 

*A • . M 

M ^H M > > £ 

©T3 o"S 0"0 CO O'O 0"0 

0103 to si jo sj to es <? cJ to e] 

>>T3 iJ'O '•i'O >>'0 ^T3 >*B 

S a _o a So gfl 9a gp 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What was the lady 

doing? 31 24 18 23 21 29 24 23 18 23 9 10 

What was the boy 

doing 41 44 36 42 40 38 32 31 25 25 10 10 

Totals 72 68 64 65 61 67 56 54 43 48 19 20 

Percentage correct 72 68 64 77 74 82 85 82 83 92 95 100 

Average percentage 70 71 78 83 88 98 



202 



CHILDKEN S PERCEPTIONS 



TABLE XXXVI. 

Perceptions of Things Among Infants (3 to 7 Years), 
School A. 

, Number of correct answers amoiig- 



to o to o to © WO to © 

W % W tO ^ t« to ^ to wj* to w £3 to 

& M tf &"»8 &"»s %*»% %'*>% 

ja-a? a-d? flflS .©'SS' BflJ 
o ;r OS OS 0*1 o *: 

rH 03 CO i-H C3"<*« T-H03LO iH Cd CD iH 03 f- 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What else was on the table be- 
sides the thing the lady was 
holding? 1 1 1 4 4 8 7 9 9 9 

Did you see anything under the 
boy's chair? 256 7793489 

Did you see anything on the 
floor near the jug, and if you 
did, what was it? 2 2 8 8 10 10 10 10 9 9 

Totals 5 8 15 19 21 27 20 23 26 27 

Percentage correct 17 27 50 63 70 90 67 77 87 90 

Average percentage 22 57 80 72 88 



TABLE XXXVII. 

Perceptions of Things Among Infants (4 to 7 Years), 
School B. 

Number of correct answers among 



too to o too too 

coj^to w *-" tQ GQ^tO to *-< to 

£>'&!>£ >>"injj ^M^ >a"5oti 

©OS o & O & © 03 

aid? AB J ca? at)? 

r-HCS-* ,-HOjlO r-ICS'-O i-hMC- 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What else was there on the table besides 

the thing the lady was holding? 1 5 4 8 8 10 6 10 

Did you see anything under the boy's 

chair? 46464567 

Did you see anything on the floor near 

the jug, and if you did, what was it?.. 8 8 7 7 9 9 7 7 

Totals 13 19 15 21 21 24 19 24 

Percentage correct 43 63 50 70 70 80 63 80 

Average percentage 53 60 75 72 



EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 203 

Comments on Tables XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV 
and XXXV. 

So far as the observation of simple activities are 
concerned, it is extremely doubtfnl whether, during 
school-life, there is any evolution at all. 

V. Children's Perceptions op Things. 

It is well known that children observe and indicate 
'persons' before 'things,' and also that the enumer- 
ation of things is a very early stage in the evolution 
of perception ; it is indeed marked among children of 
3 years of age. But there are certain things repre- 
sented in the picture that are by no means obvious, 
such, for instance, as the knife on the table, the vase 
under the boy's chair, and the satchel on the floor 
close by. Other questions relating to the observa- 
tion of things in the picture contain a large ele- 
ment of suggestion and have been excluded from the 
following tables. 

Comments on Tables XXXVI, XXXVlI, XXXVIII 
and XXXIX. 

The older infants score heavily as compared with 
the boys and girls, and the comparison between the 
boys and the girls themselves seems to show no 
definite and continuous differences. The abler chil- 
dren soon become aware that they had more than 
once been questioned about non-existent things; 
there was therefore a slight tendency among them 
to answer these questions in the negative. A vivid 
memory of the knife, jug and satchel doubtless over- 
came this tendency, but dubious memories would not 
overcome it. 



204 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



TABLE XXXVIII. 

Pebceptions of Things Among Girls (8 to 13 Years), 
School C. 



-Number of correct answers among- 



** l-1 ^ sT 5 5 

l-H 1-1 l-l >> P> ►> 

1-1 _ I" 1 —, I" 1 —. "-!_ 1-1 I -1 —, 

©*o © 'o o*n o'O co co 

t4 t^ tH Ch t- S* 

mo »cs «a »<B »»« ,2 es 

fci"0 tntS ^"O ti'O ^"O (h 1 © 

m5 t*S as as mS m« 

«S ^02 302 3«2 gW rfS 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What else was there on 

the table besides the 

thing the lady was 

holding? 12 23 17 23 38 44 29 38 16 16 12 12 

Did you see anything 

under the boy's chair? 17 18 18 23 30 29 18 20 11 10 7 6 
Did you see anything 

on the floor near the 

jug, and if you did, 

what was it? 20 20 22 21 39 33 28 29 14 17 9 10 

Totals 49 61 57 67 107 106 75 87 41 43 28 28 

Percentage correct 48 60 63 74 70 69 61 71 68 72 58 58 

Average percentage 54 69 70 66 70 58 



TABLE XXXIX. 

Perceptions of Things Among Boys (8 to 13 Years), 
School C. 



-Number of correct answers among- 



H H b > > > 

ti_* i- 1 ^ i- 1 ™* i-*-< "y_ i- 1 ™* 

O'p © 'Q ©^ ©V ©"O O'O 

w cd (»aj wos o> cd tdsj i» ed 

>>T3 P>n3 ^i-O >>■& P*)>0 >a<a 

°a ga go grt gri ga 

fl a -° od •= ed - cd - cd - ed 

gw SS 3oQ ??S Sx Sos 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 
What else was there on 

the table besides the 

thing the lady was 

holding? 26 26 28 34 26 33 27 30 16 20 7 7 

Did you see anything 

under the boy's chair ? 15 22 19 30 27 28 17 24 17 18 6 6 
Did you see anything 

on the floor near the 

jug, and if you did, 

what was it? 17 15 25 31 35 35 21 25 18 20 10 7 

Totals 58 63 72 95 88 96 65 79 51 58 23 20 

Percentage correct 39 42 57 75 72 78 66 80 65 74 77 67 

Average percentage 40 66 75 73 70 72 



EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 205 

VI. Children's Perceptions of Number. 

There are two questions dealing with number, the 
one relating to the number of flowers, the other to 
the number of leaves. It may be of interest and 
value to note how far, if at all, the spontaneous in- 
terest in, and perception of, mere number appears to 
develop. 

TABLE XL. 

Perceptions of Numbee Among Infants (3 to 7 Yeaes), 
School A. 

, — Number of correct answers among — < 

co o to © «> © co © oo © 

tB^to co £; co co £j co oaiJtn coi oo 

^'&53 b'Soii "*>mS ^Sbi bwB 

OCj Orf © C3 o°3 ©03 

•e-egi -co Si ^wSi • a, aSi *"d£. 
fl>> ©a*" ©o^ oa^ ©«** 

iHCSeo iho3t#< ncsm th eS'as .h c3t— 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

How many flowers were there?.. 4212225533 
How many leaves were there?... 0000000000 

Totals 4212225533 

Percentage correct 20 10 5 10 10 10 25 25 15 15 

Average percentage 15 7.5 10 25 15 

TABLE XLI. 

Perceptions of Number Among Infants (4 to 7 Years), 
School B. 

Number of correct answers among 

'O t3 *0 "O 

co o w © M © 02*0 

co f^ co m£ co co i co co £j co 

^G)i ^"Sib ^'S)i2 f*»'5b*J 

O o3 O =3 o oj O «S 

■cog. -a-oSi .caSi -^^Si 
a^ ©a 1 * 1 fl ^ ©a^ 

i-(C^ i-lC3ia ,-(C3CO rHCJt* 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

How many flowers were there? 56443244 

How many leaves were there? 00000000 

Totals 56443244 

Percentage correct 25 30 20 20 15 10 20 20 

Average percentage 28 20 13 20 



206 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



TABLE XLIL 

Perceptions of Number Among Girls (8 to 13 Years), 
School C. 

, Number of correct answers among * 

S" M M > > > 

<W , <H , e H_, *■'_. **-'_, <-t , 

O'O ©T3 Co 0*0 O*o CO 

M ^ t4 t4 &4 h 

w ej M ed «> si m sj » ej "> oS 

"SO "SO "So hO ThO "So 

wig "Sag *w>g wig 'Scg m^ 

nX «02 SOS 3i/2 §5Q ?h50 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

How many flowers were 

there? 7 6 9 9 12 12 12 11 10 8 2 

How many leaves were 

there? 021021113000 

Totals 7 8 10 9 14 13 13 12 13 8 2 

Percentage correct 10 12 16 15 13 12 16 15 32 20 6 

Average percentage 11 16 13 15 26 3 



TABLE XLIII. 

Perceptions op Number Among Boys (8 to 13 Years), 
School 0. 

, Number of correct answers among , 

L_; H t> . »-i hh 

Jr Jr ^ J* ^ ^ 

oo cd ©o ©o ofl ©o 

oieS go 03 t»eS «oi a> oj a> cj 

t^'o >*a p^o f^o t^o >>"o 

g a ga gfl op o fl oa 

gS ^w 3«2 go; gS Sw 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

How many flowers were 

there? 11 8 15 13 10 6 12 13 5 10 7 4 

How many leaves were 

there? 003205121001 

Totals 11 8 18 15 10 11 13 15 6 10 7 5 

Percentage correct 11 8 21 18 12 13 20 23 12 19 35 25 

Average percentage 10 20 13 21 15 30 



EVOLUTION" OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 207 

Comments on Tables XL, XLI, XLII and XLIII. 

The spontaneous interest in number is small and 
shows no appreciable or steady development. It is 
of considerable importance in connection with this 
weakness that the second week's results are not bet- 
ter than those of the week before. The children 
notice the numbers but little and, compared with 
their other memories, forget them easily. 



TABLE XLIV. 

Perceptions of Color Among Infants (3 to 7 Yeabs), 
School A. 

, — Number of correct answers among — , 

^3 *© 'O *© *CJ 

!» o w'q mo aj O m© 

»Hw tfi^M hj^cc m^ w r/i \* m 

k'Mi ^'Sof2 ^"SL!i3 >isoSj ^'Soi 

•Q-oSi *-©g. ««? ■ s, Oti ^"VcL 
©9 ©a^ oo © fl ©«^ 

r-lWCO H Oi^ H CJlO r-t TO CO 1-1 to" l>- 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What color was (or were) — 
The lady's blouse (or the top 

part of her frock) ? 3322457877 

The lady's skirt (or the bottom 

part of her frock) ? 4463545767 

The lady's apron or pinafore?... 3345336754 

The lady's boots or shoes? 2677778965 

The lady's hair? 0023544577 

The boy's coat or jacket? 1100112122 

The boy's knickers or trousers?. 0111112333 

The boy's boots or shoes? 3587898877 

The boy's stockings? 3232012143 

The boy's hair? 2211554566 

The table? 0011123266 

The knife? 0034789988 

The flowers? 3 3 6 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 

The leaves? 2 2 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 10 

The flower-pot 229999 10 10 99 

The box? 0002766699 

The jug or vase? 0001322244 

The walls of the room? 2300002223 

Totals 30 37 61 65 85 86 100 105 HI 110 

Percentage correct 17 20 34 36 47 48 55 58 61 61 

Average percentage 19 35 48 66 62 



208 children's perceptions 

VII. Children's Perceptions of Color. 

Even a comparatively unobservant reader can 
scarcely have failed to note, from time to time, how- 
very little attention children seem to have given to 
the colors in the picture, even though, in many cases, 
the objects are purposely colored in such an unusual 
way as to arrest attention. As one child said during 
her self-correction, "Isn't the boy dressed funny? 
If I saw him coming along the street like that, I 
should laugh." Yet in her interrogatories, this 

TABLE XLV. 

Pebceptions of Color Among Infants (4 to 7 Yeabs), 
School B. 

Number of correct answers among 

T3 'O T3 *0 

t» © 03 "3 03 O 02 O 

03 H 02 03^* 03 03 ^ 03 03 ^ 02 

&'«>S 5*8 S"S>5 S"&5 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What color was (or were) — 
The lady's blouse (or the top part of her 

frock)? 2 1 4 6 4 5 6 6 

The lady's skirt (or the bottom part of 

her frock)? 13757475 

The lady's apron or pinafore? 21554565 

The lady's boots or shoes? 459 10 5732 

The lady's hair? 4545799 10 

The boy's coat or jacket? 11113211 

The bov's knickers or trousers? 01212222 

The boy's boots or shoes? 569 10 5677 

The boy's stockings? 00111034 

The boy's hair? 5 7 5 7 10 9 10 8 

The table? 4 5 6 6 8 8 10 10 

The knife? 2 4 1 4 10 10 8 10 

The flowers? 7 8 8 9 8 9 10 10 

The leaves? 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 

The flower-pot? 7 7 7 7 9 10 10 8 

The box? 1 4 5 7 8 8 9 9 

The jug or vase? 23422242 

The walls of the room? 00346454 

Totals 56 70 90 99 109 110 120 113 

Percentage correct 31 39 50 55 61 61 67 63 

Average percentage 35 53 61 65 



EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 



209 



child had dressed the boy gravely in grays and blues. 
If children are fond of colored pictures, as doubtless 
they are, the coloring must be rather a source of 
emotional than of intellectual satisfaction. The 
elder girls, however, as will be seen from the tables, 
show much more capacity and have given a high per- 
centage of accurate answers. 

TABLE XLVI. 

Perceptions of Color Among Girls (8 to 13 Years), 
School C. 



-Number of correct answers among- 



S M M > > > 

q-i cm **-*_, cw _. q ™'_ **-*_. 

0*0 O 'O O 'O CD O T3 Co 

fin t-t f-i t-( (h t-i 

& d ™ c$ «Jctf & & &> cS »c3 

faT3 f_i X3 t^'O &hX3 fc'O fr^'O 

m3 mS mS m 3 ^S m 3 

^S SS Sm ^S SS Soq 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What color was (or 
were) — 
The lady's blouse (or the 

top part of her frock)? 16 18 18 19 31 33 38 36 19 18 16 16 
The lady's skirt (or the 

bottom part of her 

frock)? 12 15 20 16 31 32 37 35 18 18 16 15 

The lady's apron or 

pinafore? 7 7 11 11 18 17 26 29 17 14 15 16 

The lady's boots or 

shoes? 29 22 24 22 37 33 34 31 7 5 13 12 

The lady's hair? 12 14 16 17 34 32 35 36 17 19 13 13 

The boy's coat or jacket ? 3 4 6 8 10 10 24 18 8 6 6 7 
The boy's knickers or 

trousers? 4 4 2 3 18 15 16 16 9 6 3 2 

The boy's boots or shoes? 27 24 23 11 38 30 31 34 15 13 15 15 

The boy's stockings?.... 624312 1199 11966 

The boy's hair? 18 21 14 17 33 35 33 36 15 17 14 14 

The table? 30 28 24 24 47 50 36 41 20 18 14 16 

The knife? 15 17 14 18 30 26 24 22 8 12 10 8 

The flowers? 24 26 27 23 43 42 39 40 18 19 15 16 

The leaves? 34 33 26 27 48 45 34 39 20 20 15 16 

The flower-pot? 29 29 28 29 42 41 35 37 19 18 11 13 

The box?. 23 26 20 23 38 34 31 34 15 17 14 13 

The jug or vase? 54789 11 14 13 7723 

The walls of the room? 6 4 3 7 8 10 20 20 7 81211 

Totals 300 298 287 286 527 507 516 526 250 244 210 212 

Percentage correct 49 49 53 53 57 55 70 71 69 68 73 74 

Average percentage 49 53 56 71 69 73 



210 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



TABLE XLVII. 

Perceptions of Color Among Boys (8 to 13 Years), 
School C. 



-Number of correct answers among- 



h-J HH >• " fc? t! 

1-1 HH H-l K" r" C" 

cd co cd ©d o 7 ^ ©^ 

<* eS &> e3 to cj » 03 to 03 <*> ej 

l^'O P^-O ^W ►*> r O ^"O ^"O 

®h ® a ® a ©a ©a ©a 

■° 03 - cd - eS - 03 -° 03 - 03 

OS «S i-<S Mm? b£ Om 

io02 ttSC -fl>!B coCC eqW thK2 

Interrogatory. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 

What color was (or 
were) — 
The lady's blouse (or the 

top part of her frock)? 23 17 11 11 11 11 18 18 6 7 4 6 
The lady's skirt (or the 

bottom part of her 

frock)? 13 18 9 15 9 13 22 21 12 9 5 4 

The lady's apron or 

pinafore? 3588979 11 4320 

The lady's boots or 

shoes? 46 35 37 33 28 28 23 26 14 11 7 6 

The lady's hair? 22 23 19 20 34 23 22 26 17 23 5 7 

The boy's coat or jacket? 16 17 8965353321 
The boy's knickers or 

trousers? 642678455411 

The boy's boots or shoes? 38 42 31 38 33 34 24 24 14 20 8 8 

The boy's stockings?.... 6 11 3413556753 

The boy's hair? 30 29 18 16 26 26 27 24 21 18 5 6 

The table? 42 37 33 34 36 38 30 30 22 21 7 10 

The knife? 32 24 30 35 22 27 19 19 16 17 5 5 

The flowers? 34 36 34 33 30 32 28 30 23 23 8 9 

The leaves? 37 43 39 39 38 38 30 29 25 25 10 10 

The flower-pot? 40 44 33 36 37 35 29 30 24 26 9 10 

The box? 30 33 32 33 25 33 29 30 24 23 9 9 

The jug or vase? 55 10 864778612 

The walls of the room? 96 10 7778 10 9 10 22 

Totals 432 429 367 385 365 372 337 350 253 256 95 98 

Percentage correct 48 48 49 51 49 50 57 59 54 55 53 54 

Average percentage 48 50 50 58 54 54 

Comments on Tables XLIV, XLV, XLVI and 
XLVII. 

Though the colors of the things in the picture do 
not appear to have been very accurately perceived, 
except among the highest classes in the girls' school, 
yet there seems no falling off in accuracy from the 
first week to the second. The questions of the first 



EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 211 

interrogatory have no suggestive influence on the 
colors, so that we cannot attribute the second week's 
superiority to suggestion. The children did not 
know they were ever to be asked about the picture 
again, so that we can only attribute the accuracy 
of their memory, indeed their gain in memory, if 
we may so speak, to their own activity in percep- 
tion, and to the i mm ediate effort to remember to 
which the questions of the first week acted as a stim- 
ulation. It would appear likely, with children as 
with adults, that the influence of a question by no 
means ceases when an attempt has been made to an- 
swer it. 

The infants of the younger ages, 3 and 4 years, 
show very little power of perceiving and remember- 
ing colors; but of course the naming of the colors, 
apart from their perception, forms a real difficulty 
to many of these children. The 6-year-old and 7- 
year-old children do rather well. There is a drop 
shown by the 8-year-old children of the senior schools 
and the boys subsequently remain at a low level 
throughout the grades. The girls, however, show 
considerable improvement and, in the higher classes, 
answer much more accurately. There appears to 
be a steady sex difference in favor of the girls. A 
comparison between the two infant schools (School 
A and School B) shows a steady superiority, age 
for age, in favor of the school whose children are 
better-born and more favorably situated as to home 
environment. 



212 children's perceptions 

VIII. Validity of This Method of Tracing the 
Child's Perceptual Evolution. 

I have postponed any discussion as to the validity 
of this Aussage method until the reader has had an 
opportunity of studying the results. But it now 
seems worth while to give some consideration to it. 
Obviously, we have by this method a way of present- 
ing things to children as they appear in a concrete 
situation, and we trace the development of percep- 
tion under those conditions which are, in fact, the 
conditions to be found in actual life. For many psy- 
chological purposes, we must undoubtedly use the 
highly artificial arrangements of the laboratory: I 
am by no means unmindful of the need for such 
work. But there is always a risk in artificializing a 
process, that the conclusions from the results will 
not really apply to the actual work of life and school, 
though they may appear to do so at first sight. The 
method adopted in this research escapes this diffi- 
culty. There is, however, a limitation to our con- 
clusions, regarded psychologically. For example, 
we may not say that, because boys do not notice 
colors accurately, and show little or no improvement 
in this work throughout their school life, color dis- 
crimination does not improve in boys from the ages 
of 8 to 14 years. It may not, but other methods 
would have to be employed to demonstrate such a 
contention. We are entitled only to conclude that, 
when capacity and interest are considered jointly 
and working together, no such improvement takes 
place. And the conclusions are subject to a further 
condition. They are true under certain pedagogical 
conditions prevalent in elementary schools in Eng- 



EVOLUTION OF PERCEPTUAL JUDGMENTS 213 

land at the date of the experiment. Timeless or 
eternal truth may be very true; it is usually also 
very useless ; we must, and I think ought to be satis- 
fied to get truth applicable to the conditions of prac- 
tice; and the contention is that many such truths 
have been obtained. 

IX. Pedagogical Value of the Method. 

We are rapidly moving away from the days in 
which it was supposed that the psychologist, being a 
clever fellow who knew all about the mind, could sit 
down in his study and excogitate general directions 
for the use of schools and teachers. The psycholo- 
gist is needed as much, indeed, more than ever (he 
is, in fact, being asked for by the teachers them- 
selves, even in England) ; but his work will no longer 
mainly consist in writing Psychology for Teachers. 
Every now and then, some capable person who 
knows both psychology and education must make a 
summary of the ascertained knowledge which inter- 
relates the two fields of inquiry. But this will be, 
so to speak, a bye-product. The actual work of 
educational psychology will be done experimentally 
in the schools (with reference to the laboratory for 
disputed theoretical points), and will be done with 
the ready aid and cordial support of the teachers. 
But the work must be so arranged that its methods 
and conclusions are clear to the teachers ivho help. 
If this is done, we shall hear no more of the teacher's 
antagonism to psychology. He will, and she will (I 
am writing in England and cannot give place dux 
dames) become its most faithful adherent and advo- 



214 children's perceptions 

cate. Some rather important corrollaries will fol- 
low. Books dealing with children's ways and with 
method in schools will (some day) cease asserting 
as mere guesswork that this or that mental function 
is within the capacity of children or lies within the 
track of their interests, and will base their state- 
ments upon ascertained fact. Unhappily, these facts 
cost time, knowledge, and industry to collect, and the 
number of persons ready to spend private means in 
making this knowledge will always be small and can- 
not safely be relied on. Meanwhile, guess-work will 
go on whenever there is no real knowledge available. 
Unfortunately, it will go on for some time after 
there is. 



CHAPTER VII. 

WAS IT THE SAME PICTURE WHICH WAS SHOWN 
THE SECOND TIME? 

We have seen how almost invariably the work of 
the second week has proved itself to be superior to 
that of the week before, even though the picture has 
been quite inaccessible in the meantime.* Moreover, 
the children did not know that they were ever to 
write about it or be questioned about it again. Yet, 
with no chance of renewing their original percep- 
tions, and with no extraneous motive for remem- 
brance, they were quite clearly more accurate the 
second week than the first. This increase of accu- 
racy in memory after a lapse of time is often, and 
probably rightly, explained by recovery from fatigue. 
The original perception is often too protracted ; and 
immediately-tested memories show poor results. A 
few days later, when the fatigme due to the original 
effort to learn has passed away, the memory of what 
has been learnt is clearer, easier and more accurate. 
Have we similar phenomenon in this Aussage work, 
and is it due to the same cause ? A similar phenome- 

*This picture, Das Friihstiick Bild, had not previously been used in 
England ; and, with the exception of, perhaps, a few copies of Stern's 
'Erinnerung' and of an issue of the Zeitschrift filr Experimentelle 
Padaffogik containing the picture, to be found in the university cen- 
tres, there were no copies of it in the country. 

215 



216 children's perceptions 

non we certainly appear to have; but it seems hard 
to attribute it to the same cause ; unless we are pre- 
pared to admit that the one minute's observation of 
the picture on which both reports and interrogatories 
rest — an observation, moreover, unguided and un- 
stimulated by any expectation of examination after a 
long interval — was, in itself, productive of fatigue. 
It has been suggested that both the free reporting and 
the answering of questions have had a fixing and clari- 
fying influence. It is certain that the child knows more 
about the picture afterwards and knows it better 
than he did at first. So that this suggestion seems, 
indeed, to be a merely conservative conclusion from 
the facts; unless there is some other general factor 
which may account for the improvement. It has 
sometimes been asserted by some of those to whom 
I have lectured on the subject that the difference be- 
tween the work of the first week and that of the sec- 
ond week is not due to any psychological factor at 
all, but simply to the likelihood that, during the in- 
terval between the reports and interrogatories of the 
first week and those of the second week, the children, 
or some of them, have communicated with each other. 
I am quite willing to allow the good pedagogical con- 
dition of most of the schools in which the experiment 
was conducted; I am willing to admit the general 
interest of the children in their work ; but I can only 
say that, if the boys and girls discussed their school- 
work in play-time and out of school-hours, these 
schools were the fortunate possessors of a type of 
school-child not very common in London. I am pre- 
pared to admit that the novelty of the exercise may 
have somewhat removed the Aussage work from the 



WAS SAME PICTUEE SHOWN SECOND TIME? 217 

daily round and the common task; and therefore I 
should not like to assert that no child mentioned this 
work to any other child during the week's interval 
between the tests. Let us suppose, therefore, that it 
is, in certain circumstances, a possibility ; and then let 
us ask, in those circumstances, had such communica- 
tion occurred, what effect would it have had on the 
results ? For first of all, we know that at one point 
in the procedure, namely, after the second observa- 
tion, some of the older boys and girls did discuss the 
picture among themselves when the question was 
raised as to the identity of the second picture with 
the first. In this doubtful issue there was, of course, 
something to argue about, something on which they 
differed among themselves, some thesis on which 
they could hang their assertions and denials. More- 
over it took place at the close of the procedure. Was 
there communication during the interval between the 
reports 1 First, let us deal with facts of observation 
and then with the possibilities or likelihood of the 
alleged communication between the children working 
the experiment. In the first place, no child was ob- 
served during the interval in communication with 
another on the subject. It would seem certain, there- 
fore, that there could scarcely have been any general 
communication. But there might have been some 
communication here and there. Well, as far as the 
infant schools, Schools A and B, were concerned and 
as far as the senior schools, Schools D, E, F, and C,* 
where the children were individually examined in 
sample and orally, even this partial communication 
was very unlikely. For the exercises, especially in 
the infant schools, were spread over several months, 

*See page 222 et seq. 



218 children's perceptions 

and a child had often completed all his work weeks 
before another child, also of the same class, was called 
upon to do it, and very few children of the same class 
did it at all. In the case of School C, boys and girls, 
where the children of the same class all answered in 
writing, all at one time, we cannot say that no com- 
munication occurred between any of the pupils. We 
have to remember that they did not know that they 
were ever again to be called on to describe the pic- 
ture. But let us suppose that some of them had com- 
municated, no one who knows school-children will 
accept for a moment the hypothesis that all of them 
had done so. Let us suppose, I say, that some of 
them had, and let us suppose, and this is a big suppo- 
sition, that the communication was always advan- 
tageous to all parties concerned. Is this the common 
factor we are seeking which produces the general im- 
provement from one week to the next? The figures 
themselves enable us to answer in the negative. For 
if some of the children had profited by some extrane- 
ous factor unknown among the others, these children 
would have ' jumped up' in the lists over the others 
the second week, and the high positive correlations 
actually found between the results of the first week 
and those of the second week would have been much 
reduced. One further point; all the children at 
School C, both boys and girls, were thoroughly ac- 
customed to writing both in cursive English composi- 
tion and in answering questions, so that practice in 
these factors may be practically ruled out.* 

I reject, therefore, the supposition that the im- 
provement is due to communication between the chil- 
dren and again suggest that it is due to the effort of 

*The relevant figures are given in a statistical summary on p. 241. 



WAS SAME PICTURE SHOWN SECOND TIME? 219 

reporting and the effort of answering and trying to 
answer the questions of the first interrogatory. 

Is there, then, nothing to be said for those who tell 
us that to examine on imperfectly known material 
may be an incitement to error ; for error, as well as 
truth, may be ' fixed' thereby. Quantitatively, their 
objection is quite overborne. Practically, we may 
be quite sure that we are doing well to insist on pro- 
duction and reproduction, even of material imper- 
fectly known; but there is a tendency to fix the er- 
roneous as well as the true ; though, fortunately for 
us, it is, on the whole, a weaker tendency. 

Once or twice in the course of the individual self- 
corrections it had become apparent that the child 
was doubtful whether he was really looking at the 
same picture as before or at a different one ; and in 
the Girls' department of School C, after the self- 
corrections were over, the girls were asked, class 
by class, whether they thought the picture shown 
the second time was the same as that which they had 
seen the week before. There were some in every 
class who did not; but the numbers were very few 
until the upper classes were reached. In Standards 
VI and VII (girls of 12 and 13 years of age) there 
was a decided majority in favor of the opinion that 
the picture was not the same. They had, of course, 
corrected their previous work on the basis of the 
assumption that the picture was the same, for that 
was what they had been required to do. Notwith- 
standing this, 23 out of 34 girls said that they 
thought it was not the same picture. These girls 
had been encouraged to bring their intellectual diffi- 
culties to their Head Mistress, and several of them 



220 children's perceptions 

came afterwards, one by one, and spoke to her about 
it. One girl said she was quite certain that in the 
first picture the boy was sitting round the corner of 
the table, with both elbows resting on it. Another 
said it was a different picture because there was a 
brown flower-pot in the first and a red one in the 
second. A third was quite sure that the lady's dress 
was yellow before and the boy's coat, too. Another 
said "It looks like the same things, but they are not 
so spread out this time." A fifth girl said "The 
woman was in front before ; the leaves were a darker 
green and the dabs of black were on the flowers not 
on the leaves." Another thought that there were 
two pictures, copies of the same things, slightly 
differently arranged. Yet another said that the 
back of the picture had been altered; there was no 
wall before on the right-hand side. On the basis of 
these notes should we be wrong in attributing the 
errors of identification almost wholly to mistakes in 
positional references and in color? If this be the 
case, the error appears to arise just in those cases 
where the questioning is least effectual in interrelat- 
ing the answers. There is a fixation of error, but it 
appears to be largely a fixation of an emotional 
kind produced by mere repetition. 

So much for the girls, but what of the boys j Boys 
are more obstinate than girls — though the relation 
of the sexes in this respect is asserted to be different 
later in life! What did the boys say? It was quite 
clear that the upper classes of the boys' school did 
not believe it was the same picture. By an over- 
whelming majority the 'Noes' had it. The Head 
Master was a man whom the boys respected — a re- 



WAS SAME PICTUKE SHOWN SECOND TIME? 221 

spect with its due ingredient of fear. He told them 
authoritatively that it was the same picture, and 
then said "Now boys, do you believe it!" "No, 
Sir," they shouted, much to his disgust, though he 
saw subsequently that to change their conviction 
merely on his assertion would not have been the 
most complimentary consequence of his teaching. 
Of individual records of boy's opinions I have none, 
but some of the boys were heard subsequently dis- 
cussing the question, and were unostentatiously ob- 
served. Truth, alas! represented by only one boy 
(not of a forceful nature) went down ingloriously. 
Four or five of the boys had points of dissimilarity 
to insist upon and with inter jectional addresses of 
'Fool' and 'Silly Ass,' they held triumphant debate 
with the sole advocate of identity, and silenced him. 
I do not suppose he was convinced, except perhaps 
of the rashness of trying to persuade a crowd of its 
own folly. Boys might be convinced if they were 
allowed to keep the picture themselves in sealed 
envelopes. Breaking the seals at a given time, they 
could make a 'self-correction' from which all possi- 
bility of doubt would be removed. I suggest this as 
a useful variant in the method by which the above 
exercises were given. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

HOW FAR IS THE RELATIVE INFERIORITY OF THE 

OLDER CHILDREN DUE TO DIFFERENCES 

IN THE METHOD OF REPORTING? 

FIFTH, SIXTH, SEVENTH AND EIGHTH SERIES OF 
EXPERIMENTS. 

It will be remembered that the infant-school chil- 
dren (Schools A and B), from 3 to 7 years of age, 
had given their reports, interrogatories and self- 
corrections orally, whilst the boys and girls of School 
C, children from 8 to 13 years of age, had given 
theirs in writing. 

It would be commonly supposed, especially with 
the younger children, that the actual difficulty of 
penmanship would have a serious effect upon the 
length and accuracy of their reports, especially upon 
their length; and that even their answers to the 
questions of the interrogatories would be less accu- 
rate, if they were compelled to write their answers, 
than if they were allowed to express themselves by 
word of mouth. It might, therefore, fairly be held 
that, whereas the methods employed in this research 
enable us to come to correct conclusions concerning 
the relative powers of boys and girls from 8 up to 
14 years of age, no conclusions can properly be ar- 

222 



DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 223 

rived at about the comparative capacities of the boys 
and girls and younger children, namely, those from 
3 up to 8 years of age. 

As one important generalization from this re- 
search declares the relative inferiority of boys and 
girls in the lower classes of senior departments as 
compared with older infants — children of 6 and 7 
years of age — , it seems necessary to try some fair 
samples of boys and girls in typical schools by ex- 
actly the same procedure as that which was adopted 
in the infants' schools. The generalization may 
otherwise be disputed on the score of difference in 
method. This new step was not easy to take, for the 
work, done orally, takes an enormous amount of 
time. Each child works for 20 minutes or more on 
each occasion, indeed, for considerably longer on the 
second occasion, because the 'Self-Correction' is 
taken then. The writing of the reports and answers 
at the speed required is fatiguing to the experi- 
menter, and not less than half-an-hour is occupied 
by the marking of each of the papers, the ' Self-Cor- 
rections ' especially requiring great care, and con- 
stant references back to the 'Eeports' and 'Interrog- 
atories.' And only trained observers or examiners 
can hope to get the reports and answers free from 
the personal influence of the experimenter. In each 
school where the work was done about one-third of 
the reports, answers, etc., were received by me per- 
sonally, the others were given to a member of the 
staff, in all cases but one, to the Head Teacher. In 
every instance the teacher assisting in the experi- 
ment had had some years of experience of practical 
work in experimental pedagogy. 



224 children's perceptions 

As it was the inferiority of the boys rather than 
of the girls that was so marked, I determined that 
the great bnlk of this oral work should be done in 
boys ' schools, and that I would take one girls ' school 
only, the school in which the work had been done 
originally, for it would, I knew, be possible to get a 
fair sample of 8-year-old children who had not been 
in the school when the experiment had been pre- 
viously carried out. The boys' schools I selected 
were quite new to the work and situated very va- 
riously. I obtained fair samples of 8-and 12-year- 
old children from (a) an excellently placed subur- 
ban school, attended by well-grown intelligent chil- 
dren, (b) a 'slum' school, not of the worst type, in 
the south-east of London, and a fair sample of 8-and 
9-year-old children from (c) a 'slum' school, also 
not of the worst type, but attended solely by the 
children of Jewish aliens. The well-placed suburban 
school was regarded as being in a high state of peda- 
gogical efficiency, but both the 'slum' schools had 
been under a cloud from which, however, they were 
now decidedly emerging, one rapidly, the other more 
slowly. The girls' school — School C — was rather 
well placed and was pedagogically efficient ; but I am 
afraid my figures for the oral work of the 8-year-old 
children of this school are of little value, except ped- 
agogically, for in the period intervening between the 
first set of experiments — the written ones — and 
those now to be recounted — the oral ones — the in- 
fants ' department of School C had done rather more 
work with pictures than before, so that in the oral 
work of the girls we may have a pedagogical factor 
of some magnitude. In one other case, with two of 



DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 225 

the boys in one school, I discovered a direct and posi- 
tive pedagogical influence; in another case I found 
an indirect and negative one, which I will point out in 
their respective places. The 'fair samples' were 
selected in all cases in the way described in the sec- 
tion on infant-school work. 

I. The Work of School D. 

This was a 'slum' school attended by English chil- 
dren in the south-east of London. I do not propose 
to give at present any individual specimens of their 
work, though I may publish some of the dossiers 
later. I shall give merely the average marks of the 
age-groups, sectionized in standards or classes. 
Standard I is the lowest class of the senior school 
and might be described as first school year. 

TABLE XLVIIL 

SumrABizED Results fboii the Work of Eight- Yeae-Old Chil- 
dren, School D. 



Standard. ~ Average to to — 

.m Age. ■£ E "3 ■? - 2 « 

o -^ S *>* 53 5 ^ .2 

2 2 m <s ox, g « «h S 

o ij ^a Jo £ a "So 

£ Yrs. Mths. &.S5 fai-3 mH osw m'~> 

I 3 8 4.3 31.0 29.0 31.3 28.7 9.3 

H. 7 8 6.9 25.4 27.7 36.2 26.8 8.5 

Both 10 8 6.9 27.1 28.0 34.8 27.4 8.8 

M. V 4.5 3.2 6.4 3.5 2.2 

Comments on Tables XLVIII and XLIX. 

Let us first compare this work with that of the 

8-year-old children and 12-year-old children of 
School C* If the samples are fair ones of the chil- 



*See pages 141, 163. 



226 children's perceptions 

table xlix. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Twelve- Year-Old Chil- 
dren, School D. 



Standard. .§ Average w> m 33 

* Age - ^ «§ a* oS S 

S§. S3 SS §5 »S 

% Yrs. Mths. fart fa5 £« $5 02U 

II 1 12 11.0 27.0 26.0 45.0 23.0 11.0 

III 1 12 7.0 20.0 26.0 24.0 25.0 11.0 

IV 3 12 5.3 20.7 28.0 26.0 28.3 5.3 

V 1 12 2.0 44.0 35.0 50.0 34.0 9.0 

VI 2 12 8.0 32.5 32.0 35.0 29.5 10.5 

VII 2 12 7.5 51.5 38.0 70.5 39.0 6.0 

All Standards. 10 12 6.7 32.1 31.1 40.8 30.4 8.0 

M. V 10.9 4.3 14.6 4.8 2.4 

dren of School D, we are undoubtedly entitled to 
conclude that the children of this school, unless the 
difference in method of reporting, etc., is a consid- 
erable factor, are more proficient in the functions 
measured than those of School C. Most teachers 
would, I am sure, be inclined to believe that the chil- 
dren of School D are less proficient than those of 
School C, but that the former have been favored by 
the 'oral' as opposed to the 'graphic' method. 

Comparing the 12-year-old children of School D 
and School C, we find the figures running extremely 
closely together. Unhappily, however, the figures 
for the two Standard VII boys of School D are 
largely pedagogical results, for the teacher of this 
class had long been in the habit of teaching much 
of his history and geography by means of carefully 
elicited descriptions of pictures. Making allowance 
for this factor, we can have little doubt that the 12- 
year-old children of School D, though favored (it 
will be thought) by an oral method, are naturally 



DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 227 

inferior to those of School C in the functions meas- 
ured in these experiments. Both of School D as well 
as of School C the boys are inferior to the older in- 
fants of Schools A and B. But School D is a 'slum' 
school and though, like the infants, the boys did the 
work orally, the 'slum' factor needs eliminating. It 
ought to be remembered that of the two infants' 
schools, School A was similarly situated socially, 
though in quite a different part of London, and 
School D is, as I have said, not regarded, at present, 
as at the height of pedagogical proficiency. So let 
us take the work of a boys' school extremely well 
placed geographically and distinguished pedagog- 
ically. 

One point of extreme importance must be noted: 
the children of School D, though improving from one 
week to the other in their power to report, fall a 
little in their interrogatories. This result is almost 
unique, and I attribute it to 'poor memory,' whether 
congenital, the result of poor home environment, or 
of a pedagogical factor, I am unable to say. I think 
all these factors operate, but incline to attach most 
weight to the first named. The teachers of schools 
in poor neighborhoods say that their children, though 
receptive to easy things, soon forget even them. The 
experimental work which I have done from time to 
time in 'slum' schools tends in some measure to sup- 
port that contention. 

II. The Work of School E. 

School E, situated in a good suburban neighbor- 
hood among open fields and well-built houses, pre- 
sents us with the highest type of elementary school 



228 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 



child. I propose to give the figures for the work of 
'fair samples' of 8- and 12-year-old boys who at- 
tended this school. 

TABLE L. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Eight-Year-Old Chil- 
dren, School E. 



Standard. >w Average ■£ 

° Age. +> o 

6 Yrs. Mths. g §" 

*& Em 

II 5 8 2.6 26.4 

III 4 8 4.8 23.0 

IV 1 8 9.0 34.0 

All Standards. 10 8 4.1 25.8 

M. V 5.2 



+j u 

w a> 

*a 

fetH 

28.0 
26.8 
38.0 

28.5 
3.1 



o & 
!»M 

34.0 
25.8 
46.0 

31.9 
5.5 



30.8 
28.5 
33.0 

30.1 
3.3 



% © 

8.4 
9.3 
9.0 



1.4 



TABLE LI. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Twelve- Year-Old Chil- 
dren, School E. 













>3 




>> 














u 




(4 






m 








© 




© 


za 




>> 








4-1 




-4-> 


a 




o 








a 




Cj 


© 




■O 








60 




6D 




Standard. 


<M 


Average 


+j 


© 


13 +j 


^2 


o 




o 
© 


Age. 
Yrs. Mths. 


si 


to OJ 

3- 1 


11 
5 <B 


5 *-■ 

© o> 

c p 


0? 

a^ © 




£ 






faM 


i=ll-l 


KM 


Km 


O&U 


V 


5 




12 

12 


2.8 
0.0 


30.0 
34.5 


32.6 
30.5 


36.0 
38.5 


31.8 
32.5 


9.2 


VI 


8.5 


VII 


3 
10 


12 

12 


7.0 
3.5 


28.7 
30.5 


35.0 
32.9 


32.0 
35.3 


35.3 
33.0 


7.0 


All Standards. 


8.4 


M. V 








5.0 


4.1 


4.8 


3.6 


2.6 



Comments on Table L and Table LI. 

The work of the 8-year-old children in School E 
is slightly inferior in several aspects to that of the 
8-year-old children of School D. The former are 3 
months younger, which may account for the inferior- 
ity. But they are superior in one important respect ; 
their second interrogatory is better than their first, 



DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 229 

which is indeed the rule and not the exception. But 
the important point is the 'closeness' of the figures 
for the children of this age in the two widely differ- 
ent schools. We are compelled, I think, to enter- 
tain the hypothesis that for boys there may be no 
great closeness of positive relationship between gen- 
eral mental ability and natural proficiency in these 
exercises, since without doubt the 8-year-old boys 
of School E are mentally much superior to those of 
School D. And the 12-year-old pupils of the two 
schools show similar relationships in these Aussage 
exercises. The 'slum' school boys are slightly supe- 
rior in oral reporting; but their interrogatories are 
poorer and they remember less from one week to the 
next. The relationships between the work of School 
E (working orally) and that of School C (with writ- 
ten exercises) are similar on the whole to those be- 
tween the work of School D and that of School C, 
except that the boys of School E appear to know 
more, though they say less about it spontaneously. 
The boys of School E are, as usual, distinctly below 
the older infants in proficiency in these exercises, 
with the exception of the capacity for self-correction. 

JUL The Work of School F. 

This was a 'slum' school in the east of London, 
attended solely by children of Jewish aliens. It 
was possible to take a 'fair sample' of 8-year-old 
children and 'fair samples' of 9-year-old and 10- 
year-old children, but after Standard IV, the boys 
were transferred to a neighboring school, conse- 
quently no 'fair samples' of 12-year-old children 
could be obtained. One-third of the experiments 



230 children's perceptions 

were made by me, the remainder by the Head Mas- 
ter, who had had several years' experience of work 
in experimental pedagogy. 

TABLE LII. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Eight-Year-Old Boys, 

School F. 



Standard. 


t-t 

© 

6 


Average 

Age. 

Yrs. Mths. 


si 

fcM 


© 

(4 

■J. '-J 
fcH-> 

r o 


u 


O 0) 
UP 

a) a 


o 

<0> O 

SCO 


I 


3 

7 
4 


8 
8 
8 


0.7 
3.7 
4.8 


24.7 
17.4 
12.5 


32.3 
25.3 
23.5 


38.0 
25.3 
18.2 


34.0 
26.8 
23.5 


7.0 


II 

III 


8.6 
11.2 


All Standards. 
M. V 


14 


8 


3.9 


17.6 
5.7 


26.3 
3.7 


26.0 
7.6 


27.4 
4.6 


9.0 
2.6 



Comments on Table LII. 

We were a little perplexed at some characteristics 
which became obvious quite early in the work done 
in this school, so in order to be quite sure that we 
were getting a fair sample, we increased from 10 to 
14 the number of boys tested. But the result re- 
mained unaffected. The work is worse than that of 
either the South London slum school or the well- 
placed suburban one. And the children 'go down' 
as they rise in school standards of pedagogical pro- 
ficiency. The Standard I boys are best, the Standard 
II boys are next, and the Standard III boys are 
worst, though they rise in age, standard by stand- 
ard, rather than fall. A similar relationship ap- 
peared between the Standard I and Standard II 
8-year-old boys of School D, and between the Stand- 
ard II and Standard III boys of School E. In oral 
work, therefore, the younger boys show a decline in 



DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 231 

proficiency as they rise in the school standards — 
age, of course, remaining constant. The interesting 
feature in this school is the very rapid and decided 
decline. This is partly accounted for by a pedagogi- 
cal factor. Some of the children now in Standard 
III had been taught to make up a story about a pic- 
ture, and this practice tended to abstract their atten- 
tion from the picture itself. Quite apart from this 
factor, I am not sure that a racial characteristic 
was not also present, which tended to the loss of 
marks. There was no lack of fluency in English and 
many of the children said a great deal, but much of 
what they said did not result from accurate obser- 
vations of the picture. 

Of course, we have always to remember that there 
is much written work for boys in the lower stand- 
ards of the senior schools, and that they have now 
seriously to * tackle' reading, writing and arithmetic. 
Might we not expect just such a standstill of de- 
velopment in observation of this kind and in the oral 
expression of it as we actually find? Let us suppose 
the fact is accepted. What shall we do? That will 
depend upon our ideal of education. If we believe 
that reading, writing and arithmetic, as ordinarily 
understood, are of more importance than an observ- 
ant outlook on things and a fluent accurate expres- 
sion, whether oral or written, of what is seen, we 
shall continue our present practices. If not we shall 
make some changes. 

Comments on Table LIIL 

Once again we increased our sample so as to make 
sure it was adequate. There is a rise all round 
when compared with the work of the 8-year-old boys 



232 



CHILDREN S PERCEPTIONS 
TABLE LIII. 



Summarized Results from the Work of Nine- Year-Old Boys, 

School F. 



Standard. 


o 
6 


Am 

Yrs 


erage 
kge. 
. Mths. 




o 

02 <D 
fa 5 


73 J-> 

MM 


O <0> 

o a 
QQhh 


o 

CD O 

two 


I 

II 


1 
3 
6 

2 


9 
9 
9 
9 


1 
3 

6 
5 


27.0 
22.3 
26.1 
23.5 


24.0 
26.3 
29.5 
26.5 


31.0 
42.3 
32.8 
33.0 


22.0 
29.6 
31.5 
25.0 


7.0 
10.0 


Ill 


11.5 


IV 


15.5 


All Standards. 
M. V 


12 


9 


4.C 


24.8 
7.8 


27.7 
2.6 


35.1 

9.1 


29.2 
3.0 


11.4 
2.6 



— a very considerable one so far as the reports and 
self-corrections are concerned, but very small in- 
deed in the interrogatories. The same features of 
fluency and inaccuracy are present as in the work 
of the 8-year-old boys. It is probably worth noting 
that the two boys most advanced pedagogically for 
their age — the two boys in Standard IV — make a 
very poor show at this work ; except in the one fea- 
ture of self-correction. 



TABLE LIV. 

Summarized Results from the Work of Ten-Year-Old Boys, 

School F. 



Standard. <h Average 

° Age. 

6 Yrs. Mths. 
Z 

II 2 10 8 

III 4 10 3 

IV 6 10 3 

All Standards. 12 10 4 

M. V 





oj 




ed 






M 




be 


33 
o 

0) 

^ V 






a u 


■»2 

O G> 












fc« 


h" 


02 S3 


OQm 


ECU 


32.0 


33.5 


43.5 


36.5 


7.0 


23.0 


25.2 


29.2 


28.2 


9.2 


26.0 


30.0 


40.5 


31.6 


7.8 


26.0 


29.0 


37.2 


31.3 


8.2 


5.8 


3.5 


8.2 


3.9 


1.7 



DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 233 

Comments on Table LIV. 

Twelve boys were selected to form an adequate 
sample from the various standards in which the 10- 
year-old boys were to be found. There is a slight 
advance upon the work of the 9-year-old boys in both 
the reports and interrogatories ; but there is a fall- 
ing off in self-correction. The same features of 
fluency and inaccuracy were noticeable as in pre- 
ceding years. It is probably worth mention that the 
two boys least advanced pedagogically — those in 
Standard II — do by far the best work for children 
of this age. 

IV. The Oral Work of the Girls of School C. 

Hitherto it has not appeared that the method of 
taking the reports, interrogatories, and self-correc- 
tions orally, rather than in writing, will lead to any 
serious modification in our conclusions. The 
younger children in the senior schools work rather 
better orally than in writing, but the conclusions 
drawn as to the relative work of infants and older 
children have not been invalidated. Nor shall we, 
I think, find them invalidated in the work now about 
to be described ; but there is a marked difference be- 
tween the oral and the written work of the girls; 
and the steady progression from infants to older 
children, which we might reasonably have expected, 
and have never found, seems here on the verge of 
realization. This School C was the one in which the 
written work was done two years previously. " Why, 
those children had done the work before!" a hasty 
critic may exclaim. No, they had not ; for the 8-year- 
old children had all passed up from the infants' de- 



234 



CHILDBEN S PERCEPTIONS 



partments since the work had been done. And we 
had also ten 12-year-old children, who had entered 
from other schools since the Aussage work had been 
taken. All the 8-year-old children now in the school 
did the exercises, so that in their case we are run- 
ning no risks from inadequate sampling. As in other 
instances where the work was done orally, one-third 
of the reports, interrogatories and self-corrections 
were heard and written down by me. The remainder 
were taken by the Head Mistress, who had had sev- 
eral years' experience of work in experimental peda- 
gogy. 

TABLE LV. 

Results from the Oral Work of Eight-Year-Old Girls, 
School C. 



Standard. <« Average +3 

° Age. +; o 

6 Yrs. Mths. % g* 

"A fo« 

lib 5 8 5.2 28.5 

II 14 8 3.8 40.2 

III 7 8 7.0 47.3 

All Standards. 26 8 4.9 39.8 

M. V 11.2 



£5 


5 <v 


o o 


ai H 

<D O 


32.6 


39.6 


33.0 


13.4 


31.8 


43.3 


33.8 


14.3 


32.3 


50.9 


36.0 


11.6 


32.1 


47.7 


34.2 


13.4 


4.1 


11.3 


3.5 


3.2 



TABLE LVI. 
Results from the Oral Work of Twelve- Year-Old Girls, 



Standard. «w Average tj 

° Age. +• o 

© Yrs. Mths. £ £ 

IV 4 12 1.3 55.5 

V 4 12 2.3 61.0 

VI 2 12 8.0 60.5 

All Standards. 10 12 3.0 58.7 

M. V 19.8 



m a; 

36.8 
38.8 
43.0 



2.8 



73.8 
80.0 
75.5 

76.6 
18.6 



2 ^ 
9 a 

ECl— i 

37.3 
41.0 
44.0 

40.1 
2.9 



10.0 

12.0 

8.5 

10.5 
1.9 



DIFFERENCES IN METHOD OF REPORTING 235 

Comments on Tables LV and LVI. 

Undoubtedly we have here, in the oral work of 
these girls, some factor or factors which are mark- 
edly different from those which have operated in the 
oral work of the boys in Schools D. E and F. The 
children of the same age rise in observational pro- 
ficiency as they rise in standard, whereas the tend- 
ency among the boys was rather to fall than to rise. 
And the oral work of the girls is certainly clearly 
better than their written work. The 8-year-old chil- 
dren are equal to the best infants in reports and in- 
terrogatories, and are better in self-correction; and 
the oral work of the 12-year-old children shows a 
very satisfactory advance on that of the children 
of 8 years of age. How shall we account for these 
differences between the oral work of the boys and 
girls? Let us consider the likely hypotheses one by 
one. 

' Grirls talk more than boys ' is a popular explana- 
tion, 'and they go on advancing in loquacity up 
to (and beyond?) maturity.' This may be so, but 
what the girls say in these exercises is not mere talk ; 
only accurate observations are counted; they are 
required to answer the same questions as the boys, 
and they correct themselves more efficiently. No 
'mere talking' hypothesis will account for these 
things. 

'Oh, it's the teaching' is the next explanation 
freely proffered. Well, I am fully aware that a 
psychologist frequently bears away to his labora- 
tory work which teems with what he believes to be 
fruitful conclusions of great moment when he has 
merely lighted upon some result of a pedagogic 



236 children's perceptions 

method which he does not understand. We are all 
liable to errors of that kind. But I hope I am always 
on my guard against pedagogic influences ; my expe- 
rience as an inspector of schools tends rather to 
make me over-rate than under-rate them. Do they 
operate here? Suppose that the teachers of the 
school, influenced by the written Aussage work of 
two years previous, had directed their oral work by 
Aussage methods. Still these 8-year-old and 12- 
year-old children are new children, not yet seriously 
affected by the general methods of the school. And 
I am quite sure that no specifically similar work had 
ever been taken with them. Of course, with 8-year- 
old children their infant-school preparation is very 
important; and more observational work had been 
taken in recent years as I have already pointed out ; 
but no such factor operated with the 12-year-old girls 
who came in from outside, and not from the infants ' 
department. 

One important hypothesis remains; "the girls con- 
tinue," it is said, "to be interested in 'domestic in- 
teriors ' and the boys do not. ' ' For myself, I incline 
to attach much weight to this hypothesis, supple- 
mented, perhaps, by the more ready oral expression 
of girls than boys. But even in this very favorable 
case, the 8-year-old girls are no better than the best 
infants, except in their power of self-correction. 
But in the case of the girls there is a decided ad- 
vance from the 8-year-old to the 12-year-old group, 
an advance much less noticeable among the boys, 
both in linguistic expression and actual perception. 
These differences, however, have by no means been 
just discovered by an 'oral' method; they were defi- 
nitely and steadily apparent in the 'written' work. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. 

It is contended at the outset that the only method 
of resolving the vexed questions underlying the dis- 
cussions about Perception and Observation among 
psychologists and teachers is, so far as Educational 
Theory and Practice are concerned, the experimental 
investigation of them under school conditions. With 
school children, both boys and girls, from the age of 
three up to fourteen in six different schools in vari- 
our parts of London, an attempt has been made to 
show experimentally what children do actually ob- 
serve. The senior pupils in the earlier experiments 
made their reports and answers in writing, whilst 
the younger children gave theirs orally. In order that 
the differences between the work of the younger and 
older children might not be regarded as due merely 
to the differences in their method of reporting, fur- 
ther reports and answers were' obtained orally from 
senior children in other schools. It seems that the 
capacity to observe and report grows rapidly from 
the age of three up to the age of six or seven and 
then suffers a check. The question is raised whether 
our changed methods and differences in curriculum 
are the cause of this set-back in senior schools or 
whether there is a natural decline of interest and 
capacity in observational work of this kind in the 
younger children of senior schools. 

237 



238 children's perceptions 

We are probably not called upon to make any vio- 
lent alterations in curriculum for the younger classes 
of senior schools. It would perhaps be sufficient if 
more adequate means were taken to secure that our 
observation lessons were really lessons in perception 
and accurate expression on the part of the children 
nnd not instructional lessons by the teacher. It is 
doubtful even then whether the natural decline of 
interest in this work (if it exists) would not bring 
our results below those of the older children in infant 
schools (containing children from three to seven). 
That observational work of a very high character 
can be obtained from all children is shown by the 
whole progress of this research. With few excep- 
tions they know more about their lesson a week after- 
wards than they do at the time, even ivhen the period 
of observation is so short that a fatigue factor is ex- 
cluded. It is claimed that this result, most pleasing 
to teachers, is a direct consequence of the method 
employed, which requires on the part of the child 
both spontaneous expression and accurate answering 
to searching examination by the experimenter. For 
work done in this way children's memories are most 
surprisingly full and accurate. 

In Chapter VI an endeavor has been made to show 
precisely what it is that children of different ages 
and of different sexes actually do observe, and also 
what they neglect to observe. To the teacher, the 
detailed study of this section will be useful. Subject 
to the break in progress found in the younger classes 
of senior schools, a progress which is afterwards re- 
sumed, there seems an increasing resistance to sug- 
gestion, and an increasing capacity to observe cloth- 
ing and the position of and relations between things. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 239 

In the numerical enumeration of things there 
seems no great advance, the spontaneous interest in 
mere numbering seems small. 

In the perception of color the results are unex- 
pected. Young children, if they are pleased by col- 
ors, appear to be pleased in an emotional way, for 
they show very little accurate observation and mem- 
ory of them. Only among the older girls of the 
senior school, not the boys, are the observations of 
color really full and good. In this connection it 
should be mentioned that the curriculum of all Eng- 
lish elementary schools is at present supposed to be 
specially favorable to the acquisition of the percep- 
tion of color ; probably this aspect of the curriculum 
receives an amount of time which can hardly, from 
an intellectual point of view, at any rate, be held to 
have justified itself. 

Girls are more proficient than boys both in the 
linguistic expression of their observations and in the 
number and accuracy of them ; but the subject-matter 
in this case probably makes more appeal to girls 
than to boys. I believe that these differences are 
natural advantages in favor of the girls, but for cer- 
tainty in this respect we require observations simi- 
larly conducted in which the subject-matter favors 
the boys. 

From the standpoint of the Psychologist or the 
Teacher who uses these Aussage exercises as a Men- 
tal Test for the proper grading of children, it seems 
possible with confidence to recommend them for use 
with children up to the age of seven ; but after that 
age it is very doubtful if the closeness of the rela- 
tionship between their capacity in this work and 



240 children's perception's 

their general mental advance is maintained. For 
older children more tests are needed than we have at 
present of what we usually call the 'higher mental 
faculties, I do not wish it to be understood that I am 
suggesting that this exercise has no value as a mental 
test even for older children; but, standing by itself, 
it would be very uncertain as compared with its reli- 
ability with very young children. 



Statistical Appendix. 

Shoicing the Correlation-coefficients Between the First and Second 
Reports and the First and Second Sets of Answers for School 
C, with the Differences Between the Means and the 'Probaole 
Error' of Those Differences. 

















1st and 2d Sets of 






Av. age. 


1st and 2d Reports. 

* 




Answers 

A 






i 

a • 






r ' " 

a . 














oti 


0) 


+> & 


©*; 


flj 


ai 


13 

-a 
a 


a 

CO 




4-3 



— a 
3 3 


H 9 


"3 o a 
•5 v 
a u u 


11 




■3 ° a 

_ o 

oj ti h 
-° OS 


oi 




rt 


« V 


w+j s 


O !h!H 


« o 


jta-g g 


O tnia 




© A 


0) 




o o 


■ ^H Q> ^ 


tH S-l-S 


o o 




tn t-— 1 


02 


go 


kH 


£ 


OO 


A«S 


ftHfl 


OO 


QMS 


ftKft 


Girls. 




















VII 


14 


13 


2 


.57 


8.3 


3.2 


.85 


1.4 


.4 


VI , , . , 


. 20 


12 


8 


.84 


10.2 


1.6 


.65 


1.0 


.4 


V. , , 


42 


12 


2 


.74 


5.7 


1.1 


.77 


2.6 


.3 


IV 


, 54 


10 


10 


.71 


7.3 


1.1 


.73 


1.2 


.3 


III 


. 34 


9 


10 


.57 


17.0 


1.2 


.62 


2.8 


2 


II 


. 34 


8 


11 


.58 


2.1 


1.0 


.73 


0.9 


!i 


Boys. 




















VII 


10 


13 


8 


.35 


15.7 


2.2 


.81 


0.5 


.6 


VI , , 


, 26 


13 





.73 


9.9 


1.3 


.71 


2.0 


.5 


V 


. 32 


12 


3 


.43 


4.2 


1.3 


.59 


2.1 


.4 


IV , 


41 


11 


1 


.60 


4.9 


1.0 


.78 


1.2 


.3 


III 


d-2 


10 


3 


.68 


8.1 


0.8 


.72 


1.9 


.4 


II 


49 


8 


11 


.76 


0.6 


0.6 


.71 


0.9 


.3 



Note. — The Correlation-coefficients have been calculated from 
the individual results by means of the Pearson 'r' formula, and the 
"Probable Errors" of the differences between the means from the 



formula "p. e." = .67 v /- 



/ a? -f- ov — 2ro- 1 o 



The meaning of the 



formulae and the methods of calculation are simply explained in 
two statistical notes, one in my Monograph When Should a Child 
Begin School? and the other in Inductive versus Deductive Meth- 
ods of Teaching, both published by Warwick & York, Baltimore, 
U. S. A. 



241 



INDEX. 

Accuracy, increase in, 15, 19, 21, 51, 54, 59, GO, 63, 72, 75, 81, 85, 93, 

97, 101, 104, 109, 117, 136, 139, 144, 146, 151, 153, 159, 161, 167, 

169, 178, 181, 185, 228. 
Activities, perceptions of, 25, 30, 53, 58, 61, 63, 70, 71, 78, 81, 92, 93, 

100, 107, 109, 115, 117, 134, 135, 142, 143, 150, 151, 200. 
Answers, method of marking, see "Marking Answers." 

sets of, 15, 19, 55, 63, 72, 81, 93, 101, 110, 117, 136, 144, 
151, 159, 167, 178. 
Association, influence of, 37, 39, 48, 58, 75, 165. 
Aussage, meaning of term, v, 3. 

experiments of Prof. Stern, 8. 
validity of method, 212. 
Boys versus Girls, 132, 141, 148, 156, 164, 171, 183, 184, 192, 196, 

211, 235, 239. 
Clothes, perceptions of, 22, 32, 66, 96, 140, 194, 238. 
Color, names, 29, 34, 36, 38, 41, 42, 45, 48, 49, 211. 

perceptions of, 22, 29, 30, 33, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45, 48, 57, 58, 
66, 75, 84, 86, 97, 104, 105, 112, 135, 140, 165, 207, 212, 239. 
Enumeration, numerical, in young children, 44, 239. 
Environment, influence of, 189, 190. 
Evidence, science of, 48. 
'Faculty' doctrine, 5. 
Girls versus Boys, 132, 141, 148, 156, 164, 171, 183, 184, 192, 196, 

211, 235, 239. 
Growth, bodily versus mental, 4, 192. 
Heredity, influence of, 189, 190. 
Imagination, 35, 69, 88. 
Marking answers, method of, 23, 52, 54, 57, 61, 62, 66, 68, 70, 71, 74, 

76, 83, 85, 91, 96, 97, 99, 101, 104, 105, 107, 108, 112, 113, 115, 

116, 117, 120, 121, 134, 135, 138, 142, 143, 146, 149, 150, 153, 154, 

157, 159, 161, 162, 169, 170, 172, 174, 180, 182. 
Memory, 51, 89, 124, 125, 211, 215, 227, 238. 
Number, perceptions of, 43, 44, 59, 112, 147, 205, 239. 

243 



244 children's perceptions 

Observation, cultivation of, 1, 2, 238. 

growth of, 43, 87, 124, 176, 235, 237. 
bow to teach it, G, 7. 
what it implies, 3, 13. 
Persons, perceptions of, 53, 61, G2, 70, 71, 78, 80, 92, 93, 97, 100, 109, 

115, 116, 134, 135, 142, 143, 149, 150, 157, 159. 
Position, perceptions of, 18, 19, 24, 26, 31, 40, 41, 53, 57, 58, 61, 63, 
66, 67, 70, 71, 75, 78, 80, 84, 92, 93, 100, 107, 109, 115, 117, 134, 
135, 138, 142, 143, 150, 151, 157, 159, 174, 177, 196, 238. 
Qualifications, perceptions of, 53, 62, 63, 70, 72, 79, 80, 93, 100, 109, 
115, 117, 134, 135, 142, 144, 150, 151, 157, 159, 165, 166, 174, 177. 
Reports, spontaneous, 13, 14, 18, 19, 52, 53, 61, 62, 69, 71, 78, 79, 91, 
93, 99, 101, 10G, 107, 114, 116, 134, 135, 142, 143, 149, 150, 156, 
158, 164, 165, 172, 174. 
Reporting, power of, 87, 124, 172, 237. 
Science of Education, 8. 
Science of Evidence, 48. 

Selection of pupils for experiment, 10, 11, 224, 229. 
Self-corrections, children's, 50, 59, 67, 85, 97, 105, 113, 121, 140, 

147, 154, 162, 170, 181, 236. 
value of, 69, 75, 88. 
Sex of pupils, 132, 141, 186. 

of teachers, 133, 187. 
Social class of pupils, 125, 126. 
Spontaneous reports, see Reports. 

Suggestion, influence of, 15, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 34, 36, 39, 41, 46, 47, 
49, 57, 58, 59, 66, 67, 75, 84, 104, 112, 140, 170, 176, 188, 194, 238. 
Table, showing work of 3-year-old children, 50. 

work of 4-year-old children, 60, 98. 

work of 5-year-old children, 68, 105. 

work of 6-year-old children, 77, 114. 

work of 7-year-old children, 86, 122. 

work of 8-year-old children, 225, 228, 230, 234. 

work of 9-year-old children, 232. 

work of 10-year-old children, 232. 

work of 12-year-old children, 226, 228, 234. 

work of all children of School A, 87. 

work of School A and School B compared, 126. 

work of Standard II, 141. 

work of Standard III, 148. 



INDEX 245 

work of Standard IV, 155. 
work of Standard V, 1GB. 
work of Standard VI, 171. 
work of Standard VII, 183. 
work of boys and girls compared, 185. 
increase in accuracy, 185. 
perceptions of actions, 200, 201. 
clothes, 194, 195. 
color, 207, 20S, 209, 210. 
number, 205, 20G. 
position, 197, 198, 199. 
things, 203, 204. 
suggestibility, 188, 189, 190, 191, 193. 
Teachers, co-operation of, vii. 

Things, perceptions of, 38, 39, 53, 57, 61, 62, 67, 70, 78, 80, 92, 93, 97, 
100, 109, 115, 116, 134, 135, 142, 143, 149, 150, 157, 159, 165, 166, 
202, 238. 







<r, y o , ... * a 







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•V 



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